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Friday, July 3, 2020

George Street Playhouse’s Popular Summer Theatre Academy is a Virtual hit with young learners

Limited space still available for new summer sessions beginning this July

SUMMER THEATRE ACADEMY

WHEN: Two-week sessions for students aged 5 to 18 begin July 6, with a second session beginning July 20.
WHERE:
Zoom
For more information or to register, visit www.GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org.

George Street Playhouse’s popular Summer Theatre Academy, a mainstay of New Brunswick-area youth summer programs, will launch a new series of virtual learning opportunities this July.

Registration is still open for sessions beginning July 6, but due to demand, space is limited. Parents are encouraged to register now!

“Following our successful digital Academy classes this spring, we have created a wonderful Virtual Summer Theatre Academy for our students. Our team of professional teaching artists celebrate each student’s  artistic  expression and provide a fun, exciting  environment for them to create theatre, develop friendships, and positively collaborate with others,” Jim Jack, George Street’s Director of Education and Community Artistic Programming, explained.

George Street Playhouse offers opportunities for students aged 5-8, 9-12, and 13-18. Each class culminates with a virtual sharing, providing an opportunity to invite friends and family via Zoom.

“Our classes are an excellent way to make screen time ‘count.’  Imagination and collaboration are the foundation of our work with students, and it is amazing to see the inventive characters, worlds, and stories they create together.  We constantly see an increase in students’ self-confidence, teamwork, and ability to express their thoughts and feelings through theatre,” Jack continued.

This year’s opportunities include puppetry through improv, story, and song; Shakespearean soliloquies; creating and starring in an original play with music; STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) integration; and more.



About George Street Playhouse

Under the leadership of Artistic Director David Saint since 1998, and Kelly Ryman, Managing Director since 2013, the Playhouse produces groundbreaking new works, inspiring productions of the classics, and hit Broadway plays and musicals that speak to the heart and mind, with an unwavering commitment to producing new work. With its 45-year history of producing nationally renowned theatre, the Playhouse continues to fill a unique theatre and arts education role in the city, state and greater metropolitan region.

At the start of its 2019-20 Season, George Street Playhouse moved to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in downtown New Brunswick.  Featuring two state-of-the-art theaters -- The Arthur Laurents Theater with 253 seats and The Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater which seats 465-- and myriad amenities, the NBPAC marks a new era in the esteemed history of George Street Playhouse.

History

Founded by Eric Krebs in 1974, George Street Playhouse, 0riginally located in an abandoned supermarket on the corner of George and Albany Streets, was the first professional theatre in New Brunswick and became the cornerstone of the revitalization of the city’s arts and cultural landscape.  In 1984, the Playhouse moved to a renovated YMCA on Livingston Avenue, and in 2017 took temporary residence in the former Agricultural Museum at Rutgers University during construction of its new home.

The Playhouse has been well represented by numerous productions both on and off-Broadway. In 2018, George Street Playhouse was represented on Broadway with Gettin’ the Band Back Together which premiered on the Playhouse mainstage in 2013.  American Son, produced by George Street Playhouse in 2017, opened on Broadway in 2018 starring Kerry Washington and Stephen Pasqual, and appears on Netflix. Other productions include the Outer Critics’ Circle Best Musical Award-winner The Toxic Avenger. In 2015, It Shoulda Been You opened on Broadway, and Joe DiPietro’s Clever Little Lies opened off-Broadway. 

George Street Playhouse programming is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.  Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.