A Note from the Academy DIrectors

FYI...Coming soon:NANCY DREW

Join us as history’s greatest teen detective makes her debut in this world premiere adven-ture! Tickets: (414) 267-2961 or FirstStage.org.

NEWS FROM THE ACADEMY • Volume 3 Issue 11 • Spring Break Academy 2014

IN FOCUSis the newsletter of the

First Stage Theater Academy,published each session to

highlight the work of our staff and students.

Jennifer AdamsEditor

Patrick G.H. SchleyGraphic Design

Want to get moreinvolved at First Stage?Join the Green Room Society, our Volunteer Group! Contact Heather at (812) 201-4285 or volunteer@firststage.org for info!

Spring Break! It’s time kick back and relax Academy style…which is the opposite of relaxing! We are ready to jump up and get moving to explore theater all week long! We guarantee this week will be action packed and full of opportunities to make new friends, learn new skills, take a risk, laugh, and think critically and creatively. We are thrilled you chose to spend the week with us and look forward to seeing you each day!

— Jennifer Adams and Katie Cummings

Top photo byJennifer Adams

InFOCUS

Join Team First Stage for the UPAF ride!

Help support the United Performing Arts Fund by participating in the Ride for the Arts! VisitUPAFRide.org to regis-ter; password is Teamfs.

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FIRST STAGETHEATER ACADEMYLife Skills Through Stage Skills

Join us for Final Presentations!Friday, April 18, 2014

PRESENTATION TIMES: Next Steps - 11:30am-12:00pm LM1 (K5) - 2:30-3:00pm LM2 (gr. 1-2) - 2:30-3:00pm OM1 (gr. 3-4) - 2:15-3:00pm DM1 (gr. 5-12) - 3:30-4:15pm

Class presentations take place on the final day of each session. These are intended to be lively presentations of class work, not performances. Families and friends of present-ing students are invited to join us for this celebration of their Academy experience. Stu-dents are released at the conclusion of the presentation. Students should arrive at their usual time. Parents are invited to enter the classroom at the presentation time.

Parking Recommendations: There is very limited parking in the MYAC lot. Please fol-low all posted parking regulations in our lot and on alternate streets surrounding MYAC or you may be ticketed or towed. Alternatively, the MPS lot on 4th and Galena is avail-able to Academy parents.

K5-4TH GRADE SESSIONS

K4-K5 Playmakers with Jason Knop and Kami Gra-hamIt is Minion Madness all week in K4-K5 Playmakers. We will be creating our own minion characters and interacting with each other in the world of “Despicable Me.” We will be trying to follow clues to find where El Macho has taken our fellow minion friends, to turn them back into evil purple minions again. Using team-work, improvisation, and creativity we will solve our mystery and get our minion friends back before it’s too late.

1st-2nd Grade Playmakers with Liz FaragliaPlaymakers is entering the world of minions, villains, and freeze rays! This session’s theme is “Despicable Me.” Students will be exploring the elements of a story, what kinds of characters live in those stories, and then becoming those characters ourselves! We will chal-

lenge ourselves by creating our own interpretations of a story and embodying the roles we want to tell our tale. Make way Vector, we’ve got some new minions ready to save the day!

3rd-4th Grade Class with Tommy Novak and Hope ParowThis week, The Mystery of I.B.V.S.T will turn our gang of 3rd and 4th graders into detectives as they “investi-gate” the fundamental Actor Tools. We will explore and apply these tools as we discover clues and activities left for us by Sherlock Holmes’ ragtag group of child assistants, The Baker Street Irregulars. These activi-ties, grounded in improvisation, pantomime, dialect work, and scene analysis, will strengthen our ability to create interesting and unique characters, including our own alter-egos. Our week will culminate in sharing our adventure with other students around First Stage, as well as friends and family. We invite you to join us, The First Stage Irregulars, for a week of mystery and mayhem!

5TH-12TH GRADE SESSIONS

Acting and Scene Study with Karl Iglesias and Katie BehrendI’m very privileged to teach both acting and scene study to our 5th-12th grades at our Spring Break Academy. In acting we will develop an understand-ing of the tools of the actor (voice, body and imagi-nation), how to warm them up and to increase our self-awareness of them. We hope to understand how the actor’s work is athletic and how our tools can help us shape character through dynamic voice and move-ment choices. We’ll explore this through various fun and engaging exercises. In scene study, we’ll dive into

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What’s Going On in the Classrooms?

what makes up a scene and how that should influence our actor choices. The students will work on various scripts and be able to make creative choices as an actor in an ensemble.

Musical Theater with Amanda Satchell and Katie BehrendThe students will learn how to use their voice and body in singing, dancing, and acting with scenes from musical theater. We will work on using proper vocal techniques through warm-ups, breathing exercises, and songs. The goal will be to create a comfortable and fun environment for the students to express them-selves and take risks.

5TH-12TH GRADE WORKSHOPS

William Shakespeare’s STAR WARS with Matt WickeyAt the very core of Shakespeare’s works is blank verse, or unrhymed “iambic pentameter.” In this work-shop, we will first uncover ways of tackling Shake-speare’s form and meter (alongside some of his most

commonly used literary devices) using the text of his plays! Then, we shift to a galaxy far, far away as we discover the engaging and endlessly entertaining world of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars and The Empire Striketh Back. We will have some fun with monologue and scene work from the classic sci-fi films, reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter. We will be working to understand this poetic form, while keeping an open mind to any challenges that come our way! May the verse be with you!

All Shook Up with Edwin OlveraDuring Edwin Olvera’s dance workshop based on the Broadway musical ALL SHOOK UP, students will learn choreography from Elvis Presley’s hit song “C’mon Everybody”. This class will expose students to different dance styles fused together from the 1950’s and cur-rent modern dance moves. Two life skills in which stu-dents will learn during the workshop are communica-tion skills in a small group setting, and the opportunity to mentor other students who may need help learning the choreography. Edwin also focuses on helping the students improve their stage presence and physical theater while performing the musical number.

Where in the World Did You Get those Moves with Allie BoneshoStudents will explore various dance styles and create a recital. We will travel to Washington Heights, New York; Paris, France; Broadway; and London to learn salsa, ballet, tap, and traditional period style dancing. In just under 90 minutes, we will have a unique, di-verse dance repertoire that will have everyone asking, “Where in the world did you get those moves?”

A Vaudevillian Venture with Mitch WeindorfHow do variety shows from the late 1800s and early 1900s affect American Comedy today? Would Conan O’Brian or David Letterman have a job if Vaudeville

Photo by Samantha Hendrickson

Photo by Samantha Hendrickson

Photo by Samantha Hendrickson

Photo by Samantha Hendrickson

didn’t exist? Why is it important to learn about an act-ing style that can be viewed as “hammy”? The Vaude-ville Comedy style has a large impact on contempo-rary comedy. Through this workshop, students will explore Vaudevillian Comedy and its ties to contempo-rary American Comedy through scenes, monologues, and discussions. We will focus on the origin of Vaude-ville, how it influenced early American television, and why it is still important today.

More with Less with Michael Cotey“In the darkness we hear the sound of the river, and a loud splash. Lights up on Lois and Cass in the barrel. They float down the river, the barrel zipping.” Sounds like a scene from a movie, right? Where doz-ens of people on a SFX team, armed with the latest technology and millions of dollars, will make the mo-ment come to life on the big screen? But it’s actually a stage direction from a play. Students will need to pull their collective brain power together to bring this and other impossible scenarios to life with few resources and infinite imagination at their disposal. Teams of students will have to agree, compromise, and think outside of the box to find the best theatrical solutions.

The Game’s Afoot: Exploring Shakespeare with Candice MilanDon’t sit down yet … have fun exploring Shakespeare the way professional actors do: on our feet and out loud! In this workshop we’ll use theatre games, move-ment, and our own imaginations as we work together as a creative team to explore the mysteries of Shake-speare’s text using a scene from his most famous

Ghost Story: HAMLET! Can you find the clues in the script that Shakespeare left for actors to know how to perform his work, given that in his day rehearsals were extremely short? Discover first-hand how learn-ing in a “Play-full” way hones your powers of obser-vation, develops the ability to work creatively within a team, and builds confidence in each participant’s ability to speak and use imagination and knowledge in a way that is valuable both as an actor and a person!

Sync and Swim with Beth LewinskiEvery day is an improvisation, and even the most carefully scripted theatre will have unscripted mo-ments. In this session, we’ll concentrate on active listening and focus activities to help us learn how to quickly “get on the same page” in a scene so that we all know where we are and where we can go! Through games and short scenes we’ll work on getting and staying in sync with a positive, supportive attitude that values each person’s contribution to the group idea.

Twist and Shout with Sasha SigelIn this voice workshop, students will be introduced to a variety of vocal practices. They will learn how to speak from a tension-free body and find ways to pro-vide structure for their voices. Finding the connection between the body and the voice will be emphasized as well as learning how to form crazy character voices and enter the wonderful world of dialects.

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What’s Going On in the Classrooms? (continued)Express Yourself with Christopher GilbertHow do you put your voice out into the world? It’s more than just what you say. This workshop will explore creativity and dance and give each actor a chance to be free and have fun! Get that body moving and don’t put a cap on your creativity, let it shine!

NEXT STEPS PROGRAM

This week in Next Steps, students are exploring all possible forms of expression. We are working on music, dance, instruments, acting, and pantomime. Students are working on a compilation of scenes and

monologues from William Shakespeare’s A MIDSUM-MER NIGHT’S DREAM which allows us to create and portray characters through dialogue, body language, and creative movement. We have also begun work-ing on a song from THE SOUND OF MUSIC. We are also learning rhythm and pitch and other elements of music theory through the use of handmade instru-ments and water bells. We stretch and strengthen our body each day with yoga and work on our balance and agility through dancing our very own First Stage Shuffle! Students are learning to work together, use self and group awareness, and become more confi-dent in making creative choices!

Photo by Samantha Hendrickson

Photo by Jennifer Adams

Photo by Jennifer Adams

Photo by Jennifer Adams Photo by Jennifer Adams

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Meet the Faculty & StaffVisit www.FirstStage.org to read more about all of our staff members!

Beth Lewinski

Jason Knop, Lead Teacher

Jennifer Adams, Academy Director

Katie Cummings, Academy Director

Patrick Schley,Academy

Services Mgr.

Malkia Stampley, CommunityPartnership Coordinator

Allie BoneshoKatie Behrend

Frank Dragotta Karl Iglesias,Lead Teacher

Amanda SatchellTommy Novak

AshleaWleklinski

Michael Cotey

Why spring break is awesoME!Are you convinced that First Stage is the best place to be during Spring Break? If not, let these young artists convince you!

Liz Faraglia BridgetteJackson,

Admin. Asst.

Candice Milan

Mike Bate Julie Borouchoff

Christopher Gilbert

Kami Graham

Edwin Olvera Hope Parow

Sasha Sigel Mitch Weindorf Matt Wickey Sheri Williams Pannell

“I’m learning ALL THE THINGS!”— 3rd/4th grade student

“I feel special. We all feel special…we feel special for how hard we are working.”— 3rd/4th grade student

“I like my teachers.”— 1st/2nd grade student

“I made new friends!”— K5 student

“First Stage Spring Break Academy is the best place to be over break. I love learning and having fun with the most caring and encouraging group of people here.”— 5th-12th grade student

“First Stage is basically an infusion of dance and singing class mixed with acting games. It is so fun. And everyone is so sweet and supportive.”— 5th-12th grade student

We look forward to seeing you this summer in the Academy as well as through-out the spring! Join us at the theater for NANCY DREW AND HER BIGGEST CASE EVER and ROMEO AND JULIET, or come check out the work of Academy stu-dents in final presentations. Visit www.FirstStage.org or call the Academy office at (414) 267-2970 for more information.

T e a c h i n g L i f e S k i l l s T h r o u g h S t a g e S k i l l s

JUNE 16 – AUGUST 8, 2014Teaching life skills through stage skills in the nation’s

largest theater training program for young people

M I LWAU K EE • B R O O K F I EL D • O C O N O M OWO C

R e g i s t e r O n l i n e a t w w w . F i r s t S t a g e . o r g