Fidelity Futurestage Will Hold An Audition Day For Young NY Playwrights 5/12

Fidelity futurestage hosts broadway audition day for New York's Youngest playwrights. This event is made for students to participate in theater games, workshops, seminars. Five student-written plays will be selected to make broadway debut June 15th at the Imperial Theater. 

Students from ten (10) NYC high schools/middle schools participating in the Fidelity FutureStage theater education program

- Cast members from Tony Award nominated Billy Elliot the Musical: David Alvarez (Billy), Kiril Kulish (Billy), David Bologna (Michael), Frank Dolce (Michael), Aaron Kaburick (Ensemble), Tessa Netting (Ballet Girl).

- Judging Panel of Broadway professionals to include: Megan Larche (casting director: Grease, White Christmas, A Chorus Line); Paul Canaan (actor, theater program educator and Reality Show Judge from MTV's Legally Blonde); Michael Bush (Fidelity FutureStage Finale Director, Artistic Director of Emelin Theater); Robert Ellman (theater education coordinator for the New York City Department of Education).

WHEN: Tuesday, May 12, 2009

- Theater workshops, led by Broadway artists, focusing on auditioning, improve and choreography, all leading up to:

- Audition performances of ten student-written plays (one from each FutureStage school) before a judging panel of Broadway professionals. Five plays from the auditions will then be selected to debut their work at the Fidelity FutureStage Finale on Broadway at the Imperial Theater, Monday, June 15th.

Broadway Audition Day Activities Timeline - Tuesday, May 12th:

10:30am - 1:00pm Workshops - Students will be broken up into three groups and rotate between workshops"

Station 1 - Warm-Up & Theater Games with Carlos Encinias (Mamma Mia, Alter Boyz, Les Miz, Good Vibrations): improvisation scenarios and physical exercises, the incorporation of moving into acting

Station 2 - Behind the Scenes with Billy Elliot: students interact with Billy Elliot the Musical associate choreographer, Kathryn Dunn and cast members David Alvarez, Kiril Kulish, David Bologna, Frank Dolce, Aaron Kaburick and Tessa Netting, and learn some of the choreography from the hit Broadway musical

Station 3 - Workshop with Billy Elliot, the Musical's youth casting director, Nora Brennan: students learn the ABCs of auditioning, cold readings and how professional actors prepare

1:30pm - 5:00pm Auditions - Each of the ten FutureStage schools will perform their ten-minute plays before the judging panel; the student performers will receive feedback from the panel following each audition

Shelter Studios, 244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor

(Between Broadway & 8th Ave.)

Fidelity FutureStage, now in its third year, is designed to bring theater to life for 600+NYC students, representing 10 inner-city schools. The year-long theater education curriculum affords students the opportunity to learn from leading playwrights, directors, designers and actors, and ultimately experience the thrill of bringing their own creativity to life on a professional stage.

More than 1,000 hours of classroom work over the course of the school year includes instruction in theater arts disciplines ranging from playwriting and editing to casting, auditioning, set and costume design, directing and final stage production.

The school-year program culminates in the Fidelity FutureStage Finale gala on June 15th. Six student written and performed 10-minute plays will be showcased in a once-in-a-lifetime Broadway debut on the stage of the Imperial Theater, home to Billy Elliot the Musical. All of the plays featured in the June 15th finale will be published by Samuel French, the premier play and musical publishing and licensing company serving the Broadway community. For more about Fidelity FutureStage, visit www.futurestage.com.