Free Summer Theatre Program for High School Students
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This summer marks the debut of Free Theatre, a five-week program for high school students that is free of cost to all participants. Founded by Scarsdale resident, teacher and director Betsy Hooper, and sponsored by the White Plains Youth Bureaus, Free Theatre offers high school students the opportunity to spend summer evenings working onstage or backstage in a full-scale theatre production. “For the kids,” says Hooper, “the only cost is their commitment.”
Hooper and other theatre professionals are donating their time and expertise because of their belief in the value of being part of a theatre experience. “Being part of a production is like being part of a sports team,” Hooper explains. “It encourages kids to be responsible to something larger than themselves, helps them build confidence and uncover their own creativity.”
Students who join Free Theatre this summer can act, play music or work backstage on set design, lighting design or costumes.
Free Theatre will be held at the Mamaroneck Avenue School in White Plains, Monday through Thursday from 7 pm - 9pm. The program runs from July 6th to August 6th with performances on August 5th and 6th. Auditions for roles will be held on June 30th and July 1st at 7:30.
There will be a meeting for all interested students and parents on June 10 at 7:30 at the Mamaroneck Avenue School in the auditorium.
Ms. Hooper has been a director of youth theatre in Westchester for nearly 25 years. She has been program director of the Purchase College Summer Youth Playwrights Program, theatre director at Hastings High School and is currently the drama teacher at the Windward School.
For more information about Free Theatre, call the White Plains Youth Bureau at 914-422-1378 ext. 2104 or email [email protected].
Laramie Project at Edgemont High School
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On Friday, May 28 Edgemont students will be presenting The Laramie Project at 7 p.m. at Edgemont High School. This is a controversial and moving drama about the gay-bashing murder several years ago of teen Matthew Sheppard in Laramie, Wyoming. Because of its sensitive subject matter, very few high schools in the U.S. have allowed their kids to put on this show. The show is being performed by Players Edge, a student-run actors ensemble at Edgemont High School and is being directed by Edgemont senior Danny Bernstein.
International Art Show Coming to Scarsdale Village
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On Saturday June 19th and Sunday June 20th the Village of Scarsdale will host the Scarsdale Fine Arts Festival. The Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the festival that includes 100 national and international artisans from as far away as San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Dallas—as well as Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Residents and visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy and purchase original, hand-made artwork.
The festival will take place on the streets of the Village including Chase Road, Spencer Place and Chase Park. Admission is free and over 10,000 works of original art in clay, fiber, wood, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, painting, photography, sculpture will be on display. The festival is produced by Paragon Fine Art Festivals and their show travels to Washington DC, the Jersey Shore, Montauk, Westhampton and Cape Cod this summer.
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New Choral Society Season Finale
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The New Choral Society’s 16th season will come to a close with a concert featuring 20th century classics Belshazzar’s Feast by William Walton and Leonard Bernstein’s iconic Chichester Psalms. The two performances will be held at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church on Saturday, May 15 at 8 PM and Sunday, May 16 at 3 PM. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the website at www.newchoralsociety.org or by calling the office at (914) 725-1678.
Baritone soloist Matthew Burns is featured in the Walton work, a dramatic, oratorio and one of the most celebrated and popular works in English choral music. The story told is of the Jews in exile in Babylon, under the King Belshazzar. When King Belshazzar commits sacrilege by using sacred Jewish vessels to praise his heathen gods, he is miraculously killed; his kingdom falls and the Jews are freed. The music is exciting, expressive and full of dramatic moments. The work was originally performed at the renowned Leeds Music Festival in England on October 8, 1931.
Leonard Bernstein was commissioned to write a work for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival to be held at Chichester Cathedral in England. The resulting work, The Chichester Psalms takes texts from Psalms 2, 3, 100, 108, 131 and 133, as well as the words of David as heard in the 23rd Psalm (Psalm of David). The work is written for chorus and boy soprano or counter-tenor and is performed in Hebrew.
Tickets for the concert are available at $25 for Preferred Seating, $20 for General Admission and a discounted General Admission ticket for seniors and students is available for $15. For more information, please call 914-725-1678 or visit www.newchoralsociety.org.
The Westchester Childrens Museum
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Construction of Westchester’s first Children’s Museum is now underway at the Rye Playland Bathhouses located on the boardwalk of the Long Island Sound. The museum will be a vibrant, interactive cultural institution for children and their families, a resource for schools, a welcoming environment for special needs children, and a means to build tourism in the County. Slated for soft openings in mid 2011, the museum is committed to broadening the knowledge of the arts, the environment, multiculturalism and the local and global communities in an educational and recreational atmosphere.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $15 million, and to date $7.5 million has been raised from contributions from over 2,200 people. Though the museum can open in phases, the ultimate goal is to raise an additional $7.5 million in cash and pledges to complete the entire exhibit plan.
In order to continue to build excitement for the project and raise additional funds, the museum is hosting two upcoming events.
The Cocktails by the Sound Benefit will be an evening of celebration of the current transformation of the historic Playland Bathhouses, the site of the Westchester Children’s Museum. Held just steps from the construction site the event will showcase the construction progress and will include site visits and a sneak peak at exhibit plans. Enjoy a cocktail reception, mini golf, and a live and silent auction.
The fourth annual Explore-a-thon on will take place on Sunday June 13 from 9 am to noon. The event will be an interactive day of play, experimentation, and discovery for children and families. Families will enjoy “Exploration Stations” modeled after future museum exhibits.
The cost of the event is $75 per family and all proceeds will benefit the campaign for the Westchester Children’s Museum.
To register for both events, visit www.discoverWCM.org/explore-a-thon or call 914-421-5050.
