Popular summer program culminates in performances on July 26, 27 and 28. Tickets on sale now.
Hartford Stage kicks off its summer education programs with Breakdancing Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing. Performances will be July 26, 27, and 28 at Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford, CT.
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General Admission tickets are only $10 and can be purchased at www.hartfordstage.org, or by calling the Hartford Stage Box Office at (860) 527-5151.
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A key education program at Hartford Stage since 2006, Breakdancing Shakespeare is a 6-week summer program for students ages 16-21. Participants learn breakdancing and acting techniques and use these skills to put a modern twist on a classic Shakespearean play.
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Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a real win for laughter, wisdom, wit and love. The story takes place in the isolated port town of Messina, where soldiers returning from triumphant military action plan to stay for a well-earned vacation. Now, removed from the stress of the job they set out to do, they can turn their eyes to fun, to friendship, to jokes and games, and yes, of course, to love. Â
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“I am so excited to be back again in the rehearsal room with my favorite artistic collaborators: choreographer Brandon Couloute, composer Kevin Scott and this extremely talented cast containing many familiar faces from our last five summers,” says director and Associate Director of Education Nina Pinchin.
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The cast includes new and returning performers from around the Hartford area. Burlington: Ezra Mendes and Jadyn Ubides. Bloomfield: Travis Wroten. East Hartford: Isaiah Artis. Hartford: Shawn Baskerville, Jade Beaulieu, Ameer Cantrell, and Willa Santiago. Manchester: Mekyra Frison. Simsbury: Kiara Polirdura. South Windsor: Jayvian Geronimo and Jaya Pichay. Tolland: Nic Fortenbach. Windsor: Glendale Jones. West Hartford: Princess Moore. Vernon: Anaya Tolton.
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Support for Breakdancing Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing comes from the BFA Endowed Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and the George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation.
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Hartford Stage has been led by Artistic Director Melia Bensussen and Managing Director Cynthia Rider since the summer of 2019. The theater's mission is to enlighten, entertain, and educate by creating theatrical programming of the highest caliber that has a transformative impact on audiences, the community, and its field. Under Bensussen's artistic vision, the theater has reimagined classics including Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! which reopened the theater to great acclaim following the pandemic and brought more work celebrating the Latine heritages in the region, including Quixote Nuevo, the virtual American Voices New Play Festival, Kiss My Aztec!, Espejos: Clean, and Simona's Search. Hartford Stage has presented various world premieres including the Broadway successes Anastasia and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (winner of four 2014 Tony Awards), and Quiara AlegrĂa Hudes' Water by the Spoonful (winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama). Hartford Stage's vast education programs engage students of all ages from across the state through student matinee performances, in-school programs, theatre classes, and youth productions.
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