Harbor Lights Offers Summer Intensive Theater Program for Young Adults

The Harbor Lights Theater Company, a professional not-for-profit company dedicated to illuminating the human experience through the highest quality theatrical production and arts education, announces its pre-professional theater training program "Enter Stage Right" and its summer session, for youth ages 11-18. Faculty is exclusively Broadway and New York theater veterans including actors, choreographers, directors, casting directors and producers. Placement auditions are required. Tuition for the two week course, which includes all materials and the performance is $750. Call 718-273-7516 for more information or visit theharborlightstheatercompany.org to register!

The two - week course for serious students, ages 11-18, with prior training and experience, runs Monday through Friday, August 8-19th, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island.

The curriculum consists of daily classes in acting, dance, and song interpretation/vocal technique. Afternoon intensive sessions includes master classes covering all performance disciplines taught by Broadway Master Teachers.

The faculty consists of exclusively Broadway and New York theater veterans including actors, choreographers, directors, casting directors and producers. In each master class session, various students are worked with individually, and every student has one-on- one instruction with at least one master teacher during the course of the program. Students participate in a mock professional audition experience with a Broadway casting director and the session concludes with a Showcase performance in which each student will be featured.

Arnold Mungioli, Broadway Casting Director, will be part of this year's summer program. The latest Broadway show he cast ws"Fela!".

Two full tuition scholarships named for David Kasahara, a great mentor to The Harbor Lights Theater Company's Founders Jay Montgomery, Tamara Jenkins and Beth Gittleman, are available. Mr. Kasahara found discrimination toward Japanese after World War 2 when he came to the United States to dance on Broadway. He passed away this January. The scholarships will be awarded to two minority students who show artistic merit as selected from an admission audition.
Please direct inquiries to bethg@theharborlightstheatercompany.org.

During The Harbor Lights Youth 2010 Summer Intensive program, Tottenville resident Jacqueline Murdocca participated. Jacqueline,14, is a performer and has been since she is 3 years old. While participating in a competition for AMTC (Actors, Models, Talent for Christ) the feedback she received questioned why she wasn't also doing theater. Jacqueline's mother Susan chose to take their suggestion and broaden her daughter's scope but needed a program that was local yet had the professional quality of Manhattan. Over the two weeks she saw great improvement in her skills. "The difference is it isn't just about doing a production," said Susan, "It's about actual training."

Michelle DeSantis said about the experience, "I know that I speak for both my 12-year-old daughter, Alexandra, who experienced the two-week Children's Summer Program, as well as myself, when I state that Harbor Lights has been an exciting and beneficial addition to Staten Island. They have added a new dimension to the Arts by affording our children, locally, the opportunity first-hand, of learning from professionally trained Broadway actors, choreographers and talent scouts."

Mrs. DeSantis added, "Although there are additional significant artistic outlets for Staten Island children, Harbor Lights provides a different perspective for those students who are serious about breaking into the entertainment business. We look forward to participating in upcoming educational programs."