Willy Wonka in Full Chocolatey Swing!

Hello everyone!

Did you see? Willy Wonka is a hit! We’re half way in between the first and last weekend and couldn’t be happier! A big “Wow!” goes out to our friends at Saint Francis University School of Creative Arts. The Performing Arts Center, which holds 2,000 seats, in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne (the old Scottish Rite Theatre) has been transformed into a chocolate connoisseur’s dream-scape!

Some may not realize, but there’s almost 80 Oompa Loompas! In January, over 140 area children auditioned and over half of them were cast. The Oompa Loompas are split in half; one for each weekend, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the first weekend’s performances! Do you know what I’m most impressed with? On Sunday March 23, the Performing Arts Center was filled with just shy of 1,200 audience members! It warms my heart that so many area families attended in support of our amazing cast. Youtheatre is all about educating and empowering area children, and we couldn’t have done it without such fantastic attendance!

If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend bringing the whole family (group rates are available)!This coming Friday – 8pm, Saturday – 8pm, and Sunday – 2pm. 422-4226 for Tickets.

In case you missed the annual FAME festival, it was a great success. Youtheatre’s travelling troupe Storybook Theatre performed on the big stage! The Youtheatre table was visited by lots of families interested in our shows, auditions, and summer camp!

Speaking of camp, have you signed up yet? Our “Rising Star” summer camp is a two- week intensive course in all things theatre. There are two sessions to accommodate travelling and busy families! Pantomime, character development, script reading, stagecraft, dance, song, and just plain fun! It’s a great opportunity to hone your skills as an actor/ actress, try something new, become familiar with the arts scene in Fort Wayne and make new friends! Give us a call or download our registration form under Summer Camp on our website (www.fortwayneyoutheatre.org) and send it in to bret@fortwayneyoutheatre.org or drop it off/mail it to Youtheatre 303 East Main St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802.

We’re looking forward to spending the summer with YOU!

-Bret

Getting Ready for “Rip”

Hello once again everyone!

First of all, a big thank you to all who came and tried out for “Rip Van Winkle”! If you didn’t hear it from our Facebook update, we had over 80 talented young people come for auditions! Rehearsals start today at 4:30pm.

This is a brand new adaptations written and directed by our very own Leslie Hormann.  It’s the tale of a lovable lazy bones, strange gnomes and a 25 year long nap!  The first act takes place in the American colonies, and the second after the revolutionary war.  This is a very special collaboration with the Fort Wayne Ballet, and the Fort Wayne Dance Collective!

FAME was a great success this past weekend. This year was our triumphant return after a few years away from the young art festival. The Youtheatre table was visited by lots of families interested in our shows, auditions, and summer camp!

Speaking of camp, have you signed up yet? Our “Rising Star” summer camp is a two- week intensive course in all things theatre. Pantomime, character development, script reading, stagecraft, dance, song, and just plain fun! It’s a great opportunity to hone your skills as an actor/ actress, try something new, become familiar with the arts scene in Fort Wayne and make new friends! Give us a call or download our registration form on our website (www.fortwayneyoutheatre.org) and send it in to Youtheatre 303 East Main St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802. We’re looking forward to spending the summer with YOU!

-Lindsay

Youtheatre Classes

Another great Saturday of Youtheatre Classes! Only 2 classes left!

Everyone wants a spring session for the months of April and May, and I think next year we’re going to start spring sessions! What do you think?

Meanwhile put the YOU in Youtheatre- Auditions for “Rip Van Winkle” are March 13 and 14.  Come either day anytime from 4-6pm!

And sign up for RISING STAR SUMMER CAMP! The fun begins June 18-29!

-Leslie

School Show Seats Still Available!

Do you know of any schools or classes that would like to see our Rip Van Winkle show at a discounted price? Our Monday, April 23rd show at 11:30am still has availability! It’s priced at only $7 per student or adult– 1 free adult admission with every 10 students! This is a great opportunity for homeschoolers to get together and come for a field trip.

What a great learning experience! Let your students see the tale by one of America’s greatest writers (Washington Irving) come to life before their eyes! The story takes place in pre-revoltionary America, back when the country was ruled by King George III. Our hero, the lazybones Rip Van Winkle, goes off into the mountains and falls asleep after encountering some mysterious and mischievous little gnomes. When he wakes up, it’s 25 years later and the colonies have become their own country after the revolutionary war!

Youtheatre is doing a first-ever collaboration with several other local arts organizations. Incorporated into the show will be the Fort Wayne Ballet and the Fort Wayne Dance Collective performing original choreography. The Taiko Drums will also be featured.

Classical music plays an important role in this performance as well. It will be a wonderful opportunity to expose children to many different aspects of the wonderful world of arts.

Give us a call at 260.422.6900 to reserve your students’ spots as our last performance is filling up fast! Join other schools in sharing this educational artistic venture with your kids.

Should you wish to mail in a registration form, they can be found on our website: http://www.fortwayneyoutheatre.org

Fun Fundraising

Hello again, everyone!  Lindsay here reporting from the always sunny, florescently-lit Youtheatre office in the Arts United Center.

A big thank you for everyone who came to our annual fund raiser “Radio Daze” and supported the Youtheatre.  We would be nothing without your contributions and thanks to you, we can continue to support and positively impact over 16,000 area children each year through our shows, outreach, classes and scholarships.

We accept donations and contributions at any time, should you wish to give to the Youtheatre.  Just give us a call at 260.422.6900!  Put the you in Youtheatre!

It was a night of laughs and music as we went through the history of radio in an original production by Harvey and Leslie.  Head on over to our Facebook page to see pics of local treasures acting and singing in the program!

This coming Monday, February 13th, the traveling troupe will be at IPFW at Neff Hall (approx. 12:40pm) to perform a section from their “Suess on the Loose” collection “The Lorax”!  This is a seriously cute little performance, people.  I had the pleasure of seeing it a few days ago– and it further proves we have a lot of young talent here in our organization.  The purpose of this performance is to reach out to corporations for sponsorships.  Know anyone who would be interested in a sponsorship?  Let us know!

The wonderous Storybook Theatre is making its way around the area once again with their program “Just So Stories”.  How did the camel get its hump?  The elephant get his trunk?  The spider get her small waist?  Find out at a library near you with the free performance!

Upcoming performances:

Pontiac Branch: Mon, Feb 13 — 4pm  &  Fri, Feb 17 — 10:30am

Main Library, Children’s Section:  Mon, Feb 20 — 2pm

Tecumseh Branch:  Tue, Feb 21 — 6:30pm

Grabill Branch:  Thur, Feb 23 — 7pm

 

And finally in additional news, our very own Harvey Cocks will be in the lead role of “You Can’t Take It with You” at First Presbyterian Theatre on W. Wayne St. starting Friday, March 2 and running though Saturday, March 17.  Contact First Pres or go to their website for more information!

Winterval and the Kick Off of “Last Saturdays”

It’s almost here!

“Last Saturdays” are a celebration downtown of art, performing art, art organizations, and artists from Fort Wayne that take place on the last Saturday of each month.  The very first of this series will be happening this Saturday, January 28th during the Fort Wayne winter carnival “Winterval”!

The Downtown Improvement District has constructed Winterval to be an all-day event no one will want to miss– and of course the Arts United Center (and Youtheatre) are getting in on the action too!

Here is a list of this year’s Winterval activities, but check with fortwayneparks.org for updates

• 9:30 am – 5 pm Historic Fort Wayne, Nouvelle Annee 1752 (Free Will Donation)
• 10 am – 5 pm Science Central (Half Price Admission)
• 11 am – 10 pm Headwaters Park Ice Rink, Ice Skating; Fort Wayne Ice Skating Club will perform short exhibitions at 1:15, 2:15, 3:15 and 4:15 PM
• Noon – 5 pm History Center (Half Price Admission)
• Noon – 6 pm Artlink (located in the Auer Center), Create Self Portrait
• 10 am – 8 pm Auer Center for Arts & Culture: Artlink and Pembroke Bakery & Café open
• 1 – 2 pm Coffee Shop Talk in the Auer Center with Fort Wayne Ballet’s Tess Heet speaking about costume design for ballet performance(Free Admission)
• 1 – 3 pm Lawton Park, Polar Bear Rugby Game (Free Admission)
• 1 – 5 pm Botanical Conservatory “Down on the Farm” ($1 Off Admission)
• 2 – 5 pm Community Center “Winter Carnival” (Free Admission)
• 5:30 – 6 pm Arts United Center Plaza, Arts United Fund Drive Kickoff Celebration, including free drawing for a Passport to the Arts ticket package, hot chocolate and cookies by Pembroke Bakery & Café and illumination of Northern Lights Sculpture Display (Free Admission)
• 8 – 10:30 pm Salsa Loca in the Ian Rolland Gallery, located in the Arts United Center

The Arts United Center Plaza will play host to the ice sculpture display as well as free hot cocoa and cookies to all who come to admire them.  Look out for the Youtheatre table inside and come say hello to me, Lindsay (the newbie Marketing Director) or Leslie (the Executive Director).  Who knows, you may even see local theatre legend Harvey Cocks keeping us company.

Get out there and enjoy this largely free event downtown.  Should be in the upper 30’s with a chance of flurries.  Perfect for spending the day exploring the events outside!

Best,

Lindsay

Youtheatre Featured on Arts Weekly

Arts Weekly sits down with Executive Director Leslie Hormann and Artistic Director Harvey Cocks

 

Youtheatre has it’s own blog!

A big hello to you and welcome to Youtheatre’s first ever blog!

Here you’ll find more than just updates on the goings on here at the Youtheatre, but you’ll get an inside peek at some of the behind-the-scenes happenings for classes and performances!

This blog is managed by (me) Lindsay Sprunger,  PR and marketing support for Youtheatre, and Leslie Hormann, Youtheatre’s own Executive Director.  You’ll find posts from both of us, signed at the bottom of each, just in case you’re curious who was behind the keyboard at the time.

We are excited you’ve decided to check us out!  Make sure you also follow us on Twitter @FWYoutheatre and “like” us on Facebook so you know that you’re getting all the latest buzz about Youtheatre.

Talk to you all very soon!

Put the “You” in “Youtheatre!”

(Lindsay)