{"id":7184,"date":"2024-04-23T15:42:51","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T18:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=7184"},"modified":"2024-04-23T15:42:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T18:42:51","slug":"astor-theatre-unveils-new-program-to-broaden-youth-theatre-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/04\/23\/astor-theatre-unveils-new-program-to-broaden-youth-theatre-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Astor Theatre unveils new program to broaden youth theatre education"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jerri Southcott with a small-scale model of the set for Seussical, the first production from the Astor Theatre’s Astor Academy. (Rick Conrad)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool is launching a new theatre education program for youth with a production set to open in June.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Astor Academy is designed to give youth aged 8 to 18 access to high-quality performing arts training. Its first production is Seussical, a musical comedy based on the works of Dr. Seuss.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jerri Southcott is the Astor\u2019s executive director. She said the Astor Academy was the \u201cbrainchild\u201d of former interim executive director Jean Robinson-Dexter and some members of the Astor board.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea is to give kids and youth some training in the arts at little or no cost.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The draw really is access to arts education, a creative and safe space to work with theatre professionals, musical theatre, and summer camps, dance and vocals and music at no cost,” Southcott said in an interview Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Too often, families are left in a position where they can\u2019t afford to have private music lessons or private dance classes. We are trying to make it as a accessible as possible to allow everyone in rural Nova Scotia no matter what their economic situation is to this great opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparation for Seussical is well underway, with up to 18 young cast members from Queens County and other areas of the South Shore. It\u2019s being helmed by a production team of adults experienced in community and professional theatre.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Southcott\u2019s brother Shane is the director, Malcolm Freeman is the assistant director, Kim Umphrey is vocal director, Kristopher Snarby and Michelle Riley are vocal coaches, <\/span>Kerenza Verburg is choreographer and Cynthia Walker is stage manager.<\/span><\/p>\n

It will open on June 20 and run until June 23, with two evening shows and two matinees.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about friendship, it\u2019s about relationships, it’s about community and about treating people with love and respect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Southcott says they\u2019re still looking for anybody who might be interested in joining the show. The cast is basically set, but they\u2019re looking to fill some spots in the production crew, including costumes and set building.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have experienced and seen the benefits of what this kind of involvement in productions and the camaraderies and teamwork and everything can have on a person. Too often, it\u2019s not just economics, it\u2019s feeling excluded, feeling isolated, not feeling popular enough, not knowing the talent they have inside and creating an environment where they feel welcome and they feel accepted. … We have people who have never been on stage, and we\u2019ve seen some hidden talents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Southcott says the Astor will soon announce summer theatre camps offered through the Astor Academy. She said there will be a small fee to help pay the instructors. The Astor has scholarships available for those camps.<\/span><\/p>\n

The productions through the academy are mostly free with a $20 fee for registration and show T-shirt, though that fee can be waived.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do think it\u2019s important for the Astor to offer this opportunity for youth in the area,” Southcott says. “I would love to see more kids come out. We are wide open to anybody who would like to come and see what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Malcolm Freeman is the assistant director of Seussical and Easton Goodwin plays Cat in the Hat in the musical. It opens at the Astor Theatre on June 20. (Rick Conrad)<\/p><\/div>\n

Easton Goodwin is playing Cat in the Hat in Seussical. He is a Grade 11 student at Liverpool Regional Regional High School. He\u2019s been involved in other productions at the Astor, including the recent musical Follies<\/a>, as well as Into the Woods and Peter Pan Jr., all directed by former associate artistic director Ashley-Rose Goodwin.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSeussical is such a fun musical and it\u2019s so entertaining, especially for younger ones too. I’ve always wanted to play a crazy fun character that moves around a lot. I just love musical theatre so much.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Malcolm Freeman of Liverpool is the assistant director of Seussical. He has appeared in numerous Astor productions, including Follies. This is his first time behind the scenes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun being on this side of things and getting to learn the ropes on that (side of) the spectrum. I wanted to get involved with this because I’ve never worked with youth and I\u2019ve never actually been a part of making the decisions and bringing a stage production to life. It broadens your horizon on your own skills and your own acting and singing abilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s coming together so well. We have a fantastic cast, the kids and the youth are great and we really couldn\u2019t have asked for a better group of people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tickets for Seussical are on sale now through Ticketpro<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/astoracademystoryapr2324.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool is launching a new theatre education program for youth with a production set to open in June. The Astor Academy is designed to give youth aged 8 to 18 access to high-quality performing arts training. Its first production is Seussical, a musical comedy based on the works of Dr. Seuss. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[2092,38,2094,275,1553,39,1672,1675,49,2093,1161,2015],"class_list":["post-7184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-astor-academy","tag-astor-theatre","tag-easton-goodwin","tag-jean-robinson-dexter","tag-jerri-southcott","tag-liverpool","tag-malcolm-freeman","tag-performing-arts","tag-queens-county","tag-seussical","tag-theatre","tag-youth-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7184"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7188,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7184\/revisions\/7188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}