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Tickets On Sale Today for NEW STAGES 35: SHAKER NEW PLAYS SERIES 

By: Mar. 08, 2017
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The Shaker Heights High School Theatre Arts Department presents the thirty-fifth festival of new plays, written, directed, performed and co-produced by students, Stages 35: Shaker New Plays Series, March 15, 16, 17 & 18 at 7 PM with a 9:15 PM show on Friday, March 17 in our intimate black box theatre, Stage 3. Six one-act plays will be presented as part of a full season of theatrical events, which began with Urinetown and concludes with Nevermore: A Spring Ensemble Show, in April.

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Two programs, part of our "Giving Voice" series, the Ninth Grade Theatre Experience and New Stages, have proven to be successful and enriching opportunities for the students and educators who have been a part of them. These programs utilize teachers within the school and artists within the greater community to foster a cooperative, creative environment in which students' ideas and writing are shaped into performed and published works.

"Giving Voice," celebrates these two programs and the processes which created them, has over the years, enjoyed success in multiple arenas: three major education conferences; dozens of productions at professional theatres including Cleveland's Dobama Theatre and The Blank Theatre in Los Angeles; and in 2016, publishing in A Race Anthology (GTK Press).

The New Stages 35 Bill

Aaah! The Floor Is Lava!
Written by Ruby Gibson '18
Directed by Sydney Keller '17
Assisted by Louis Schwartz '17
With: Anna Walker '18 and DJay Wilson '17

Arby's
Written by Nora Spadoni '17
Directed by Sheila Scanlon '17
Assisted by Simon Trubek-Pence '17
With: Jamie: Franklin Potiker '17
Mallory: Margaret Bartimole '18
Vida: Sarah Manuszak '17

I Spy
Written by Gus Mahoney '17
Directed by Isabela Carroll '18
Assisted by Noa Immerman '18
With: Farhaanah A. Alim '20 and Carl Berner '17

Out the Window
Written by Toni Watterson '18
Directed by Harlan Friedman-Romell '19
Assisted by Elena Sola '17
With: Sydney Fieseler '18 and Miles McCallum '19

Pass the Gravy
Written by Samira Colbert '18
Directed by Natalily Kyremes-Parks '19
Assisted by Connie Smith '19
Lillian Baum '17, Monet Bouie '19, BRian Johnson '17, and Rose McCandless '17

Yellow Buttons
Written by Olivia La Rue '19
Directed by Max Rotatori '17
Assisted by A'Dasia Hart '20 & Cory Henderson '18
With: Anna Sternberg '18 and Izzy Wang '17
The New Stages 35 Production Team

Production Manager
Amelia Bayless-Marr '17

Assistant Production Managers
Sydney Blunt '18
Kathrine Fridlund '18

Sound Designers
Hallie Dial '19
West Ivary '18

Costume Assistant
Kailah Wilson '18

House Manager
Rose Solomon '19

Alumni Guest Artist Videographer & Photographer
Davionne Gooden '16

MOM Gallery Coordinator
Gabby Holt '19

Concessions Team
Kyla Lawson '17, Manager
Arielle McTier '17

Flower Cart Hadas Marcus '17

Graphic Designer
Dialleta Wilson '17

Light Board Operator
Anna Halldorsdottir '17

Sound Board Operator
Quinn Scanlon '20

Dramaturge
TBD!

Shift Crew
Allison Osborne-Nurse '18
Izzy Ilijasic '17
Kay Petrovic '18
Skylar Biggerman '19
Alicia Benson '20
Isaiah Steiner '19

Theatre Management Classes
Amelia Bayless-Marr '17
Sydney Blunt '18
Hallie Dial '19
Katherine Fridlund '18
Shemiah Hooper '19
Noa Immerman '18
Natalily Kyremes-Parks '19
Morgan Neeson '19
Allison Osborne-Nurse '18
Katja Rode '19
Sheila Scanlon '17


Tickets may be purchased at www.shaker.tix.com beginning March 8. Online sales will close at 1pm daily on each day of the production. Tickets may also be purchased at the box office one hour before each performance.

Please note that New Stages performances typically sell out, and due to the size of the space, there is no standing room. We request that you kindly return any unused tickets so that we may seat those on the waiting list. There are no refunds.

If you are a Patron at the Associate level, your two complimentary tickets can only be reserved by calling the Box Office at 295.4287 and leaving a voice mail for our Box Office Manager, Barrie Sandman. If you aren't already a Patron and would like to play a role for Shaker Theatre Arts, please call Department Chair Scott J. Sumerak at 216.295.6357.

    A Brief History of New Stages

    New Stages, now in its thirty-fifth continuous year, was developed out of a playwriting class then taught by Shaker Theatre Arts Department founder, James Thornton, in 1983. Playwriting Program Director Christine McBurney believes "New Stages provides artistic leadership opportunities in a safe and guided learning environment for students that is a uniquely co-curricular experience in a high school. Students work closely together, learn to problem solve, think theatrically, take risks, and collaborate effectively. If you ask Shaker Theatre alumni what their most memorable moments in the theatre arts program were, they will most likely recall those moments shared in New Stages. To my knowledge, no other high school in the country has a new play series of this design." The theatre management class researched the archives to discover that since its inception in 1983, at least 2,107 students have participated in the creation of new works for the theatre through New Stages.

    Stage 3
    Stage 3, Shaker Heights High School's intimate black box theatre, was the vision of student Amy Silberman, '81. In her senior year of high school, Amy designed a basic concept for turning the downstairs area of the auditorium into a usable performance space. This design for a "black box" translated itself into the Stage 3 Theatre the following year and has since been the home for New Stages, as well as various classes, senior projects, and special student productions. An arts scholarship has been established in her memory to be awarded yearly to a Shaker junior who has distinguished themselves in the arts.

    Donations should be sent to:

    The Amy Margolis Silberman Fund
    for Arts in Education
    15600 Parkland Dr.

    Stage 3, dedicated in her memory, is the perfect venue for New Stages, seating only 65 people and usually selling out every performance.

    This year's New Stages provides working and learning opportunities for 55+ students (and growing as we add our front of house staff): playwrights, directors, assistants, actors, technicians, designers, producers, and managers. Every new Broadway season since 1991 has included one or more Shaker Theatre alum in major New York productions. In addition, Shaker Theatre alums hold positions in every area of professional theatre and the entertainment industry. Among others, some New Stages alumni include film director, David Wain '87, (Wet Hot American Summer), TV writer and producer, Carter Bays '93 (How I Met Your Mother) and TV writer, Laura Jacqmin '00 (Grace & Frankie).

    Shaker Theatre Alumni Greetings from Broadway!
    Click on this photo for a link to a special video greeting and New Stages shout out from three Shaker Theatre alumni, Michael McElroy '85, Andrew Kober '02, and Max Chernin '08. All three are performing together in the Broadway production of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and sharing the same dressing room at the newly renovated Hudson Theatre!


    A 2016 Race Anthology: Dispatches and Artifacts from a Segregated City includes a piece written by Shaker Theatre Arts Department's Advanced Ensemble and members of the Student Group on Race Relations (SGORR). The book, edited by RA Washington (of Guide to Kulchur) and Dan Moulthrop (CEO of The City Club of Cleveland), includes a variety of perspectives on the issue of race in the Cleveland area.

    In 2012, then-Ensemble director Erik Johnson initiated a piece for the annual Spring Ensemble show to celebrate Shaker's ongoing efforts at integration. Poet Katie Daley, a frequent guest artist in the program collaborated with ensemble students and SGORR members to talk and write about their experience of integration, race and racism at Shaker. Their freestyle were then performed in the 2013 Spring Ensemble Show, The Golden World. The piece, "What It's Like," appears in the anthology.

    Shaker Theatre Guest Artist Program

    The program has a long history of hosting Guest Artists. Recent visits and workshops have included:

    and Associate Guest Artists

    Shaker Heights High School Theatre Arts Department Faculty & Staff

    • Scott J. Sumerak, Theatre Arts Department Chair and Ensemble Program Director who teaches Stagecraft, Junior, Advanced, and Senior Ensembles and has taught Theatre Management and Theatre Exploration.
    • Christine McBurney, Playwriting Program and Shakespeare Learning Program Director who teaches Dramatic Literature & Writing, Theatre Management, Junior Ensemble, Theatre Exploration, and ESL, and has also taught Film as Art, No Fear Shakespeare, Improvisation, Shakescenes, Acting, and IB Theatre Arts. Department Chair 2005-2013.
    • Erik Johnson '98, Ensemble Program Director 2005-2015, is currently on leave of absence perusing an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Oregon.
    • Chuck Tisdale, Technical Designer and Auditorium Manager.
    • Barrie Sandman, Box Office Manager & Shaker Theatre Alum parent.
    • Elaine Bayless-Marr and Deborle Richardson-Bouie, Shaker Theatre Support Co-Presidents.

    Shaker Theatre includes 8 daily classes and a production season including multiple main stage performances and four "showcase" performances/events.

    Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, & peruse production photos at Zenfolio.



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