Hi Folks,
There have been some questions about Saturday's Romeo & Juliet production, so we thought we'd take moment to explain our motivations behind mounting a show in April.
First off, this is our Inaugural Spring Show...and not a replacement for the Annual Summer Festival.
Also, where the Summer Festival's outdoor venues serve to enrich the greater Los Angeles population with dazzling evenings of professionally-produced, high-quality shows, the Inaugural Spring Show is primarily intended to serve a more targeted audience: the students and educators of Los Angeles.
But don't get us wrong. Romeo & Juliet is cut from the same professionally-produced, high-quality cloth as the Summer shows you know and love. But we've made it more intimate and immersive by bringing it into our own space; a great way to christen the facility that bears our new moniker (The Shakespeare Center), and a more effective way to make ourselves accessible to the 9,000+ students in our immediate vicinity.
As LAUSD moved away from year-round schooling (and then reduced the number of summer school sessions available), we noticed that fewer and fewer students were able to see our Summer Festival Mainstage show, and partake in the educational enrichment programs associated with it*.
In order to make our productions more meaningful to the students in our community, we simply decided to have a show during the traditional school year. Recent district cutbacks and layoffs - which severely crippled arts, music and English programs - only reinforced our decision to mount a show in Spring 2010.
Of Romeo & Juliet's 18 productions, 15 are exclusively student matinees (at little- or no-cost to schools). All were fully booked weeks before our April 5 opening.
Which leaves only three, Saturday evening, General Admission shows.
Again, don't get us wrong: even though more students than adults will see it, this Romeo & Juliet is not just for kids. Helmed by our Associate Artistic Director/Director of Youth and Education, Chris Anthony, R&J's direction has certainly been informed by issues relevant to students of the text - but, as we all know, those students come in all ages.
Though its window is limited, we hope that you can stop by our revamped facility, see our take on R&J and support the immensely talented cast and crew that put it together.
- Your friends at The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles
Tickets available for $20 with discount code: FB
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/95721
(seriously; it's only a few dollars more than some popcorn and a ticket to Hot Tub Time Machine)
___
*Most of the schools also participate in our Will Power to Schools (WPS) program, which augments the show with in-classroom workshops about the play and its production.
Learn more about Will Power to Schools:
http://shakespearecenter.org/index.asp?PageTypeId=3&PageDetailId=131&PageSectionId=6
Though the general public doesn't get access to the WPS workshops, we are holding talkbacks after each Saturday performance to give you a peak into the show's DNA.
Apr. 10 - "Come, musicians, play!": The Creative Process; Designing R&J
Apr. 17 - "O thou untaught! What manners is in this to press before they father to a grave?": Youth Advocacy in Our L.A. Community
Apr. 24 - "Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene...": L.A. History; 1930's Boyle Heights
__
Kimiko Broder is the Program Manager for Will Power to Schools
Post-performance Talk Backs Designed and Moderated by Dani Bedau
There have been some questions about Saturday's Romeo & Juliet production, so we thought we'd take moment to explain our motivations behind mounting a show in April.
First off, this is our Inaugural Spring Show...and not a replacement for the Annual Summer Festival.
Also, where the Summer Festival's outdoor venues serve to enrich the greater Los Angeles population with dazzling evenings of professionally-produced, high-quality shows, the Inaugural Spring Show is primarily intended to serve a more targeted audience: the students and educators of Los Angeles.
But don't get us wrong. Romeo & Juliet is cut from the same professionally-produced, high-quality cloth as the Summer shows you know and love. But we've made it more intimate and immersive by bringing it into our own space; a great way to christen the facility that bears our new moniker (The Shakespeare Center), and a more effective way to make ourselves accessible to the 9,000+ students in our immediate vicinity.
As LAUSD moved away from year-round schooling (and then reduced the number of summer school sessions available), we noticed that fewer and fewer students were able to see our Summer Festival Mainstage show, and partake in the educational enrichment programs associated with it*.
In order to make our productions more meaningful to the students in our community, we simply decided to have a show during the traditional school year. Recent district cutbacks and layoffs - which severely crippled arts, music and English programs - only reinforced our decision to mount a show in Spring 2010.
Of Romeo & Juliet's 18 productions, 15 are exclusively student matinees (at little- or no-cost to schools). All were fully booked weeks before our April 5 opening.
Which leaves only three, Saturday evening, General Admission shows.
Again, don't get us wrong: even though more students than adults will see it, this Romeo & Juliet is not just for kids. Helmed by our Associate Artistic Director/Director of Youth and Education, Chris Anthony, R&J's direction has certainly been informed by issues relevant to students of the text - but, as we all know, those students come in all ages.
Though its window is limited, we hope that you can stop by our revamped facility, see our take on R&J and support the immensely talented cast and crew that put it together.
- Your friends at The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles
Tickets available for $20 with discount code: FB
https://www.brownpapertick
(seriously; it's only a few dollars more than some popcorn and a ticket to Hot Tub Time Machine)
___
*Most of the schools also participate in our Will Power to Schools (WPS) program, which augments the show with in-classroom workshops about the play and its production.
Learn more about Will Power to Schools:
http://shakespearecenter.o
Though the general public doesn't get access to the WPS workshops, we are holding talkbacks after each Saturday performance to give you a peak into the show's DNA.
Apr. 10 - "Come, musicians, play!": The Creative Process; Designing R&J
Apr. 17 - "O thou untaught! What manners is in this to press before they father to a grave?": Youth Advocacy in Our L.A. Community
Apr. 24 - "Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene...": L.A. History; 1930's Boyle Heights
__
Kimiko Broder is the Program Manager for Will Power to Schools
Post-performance Talk Backs Designed and Moderated by Dani Bedau
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