MCC Theater Announces Audition Dates for 2022-23 MCC Youth Company Performance & Playwriting Labs
The MCC Youth Company is a free, after-school program for New York City high school students interested in developing their acting and dramatic writing skills.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Sep. 27, 2022
MCC Theater has announced the return of their full in-person season for the MCC Youth Company and Student Matinee programs after operating remotely and in a hybrid program for the last two seasons.
MCC will be hosting a two day in-person audition for the 2022-2023 MCC Youth Company programs on Thursday October 20 and Friday October 21, 2022, from 4:30 - 6:30pm. Auditions will take place at neighboring venue 52nd Street Project's Five Angels Theater (789 10th Ave, New York, NY 10019). Registration is now open and any current New York City high school student is encouraged to apply. Attendance to both days is necessary for consideration as the auditions cover both the Performance Lab and the Playwriting Lab programs.
The MCC Youth Company is a free, after-school program for New York City high school students interested in developing their acting and dramatic writing skills. Within a creative, challenging, and supportive environment, teenagers from five boroughs participate in weekly workshops (Labs) led by professional theater artists. No prior experience is necessary. It is the desire to have one's voice be heard and to speak one's authentic truth, that will be the key to connecting with the program.
In Performance Lab, Youth Company actors develop their performance skills through improvisation, movement, and voice activities. Over the course of the year, actors craft original monologues and scenes that are performed by the ensemble and culminate in the annual spring production UNCENSORED directed by Jennifer Shirley and Kevin Carillo.
In Playwriting Lab, members develop original scripts. Under the tutelage of the playwriting director, young writers learn about the process of creating strong characters and composing dialogue, as well as establishing setting and conflict. The yearlong program results in the FreshPlay staged reading program, held every summer.
Students interested in auditioning for the MCC Youth Company must have proof of COVID vaccination, unless they have medical or religious exemption. Further details on the Youth Company COVID policy will be sent to registered students prior to auditions.
For the registration form and more details please click here or email education@mcctheater.org with any inquiries.
MCC Theater will also continue with their updated Student Matinee Program to allow for maximum flexibility for both students and teachers. Middle, High School, and College teachers can book group seats for their students for matinee and evening performances during the run of each show in the 2022-23 season. The special reduced student ticket price of $25 will be available with no additional processing or handling fees. Some blackout dates and restrictions may apply.
A same-day student rush will also be made available for each performance. Students can present their school ID card at the MCC Theater box office to purchase tickets for that evening's performance for $25.
Educators are encouraged to reach out to the MCC Box Office at boxoffice@mcctheater.org to find the best way to connect their students to live theater performances. They are also invited to reach out to the Education Department at education@mcctheater.org to see how they can preview the show before bringing their classes to the theater. Downloadable Show Guides with activities for the classroom are available during the first week of previews and help set the stage for a well-rounded theater going experience.
MCC strives to make theater accessible for New York City youth. Throughout MCC's season, with the support of generous funders, MCC offers subsidized student matinee performances to local public schools who would not otherwise be able to afford tickets. The ticket subsidy program endeavors to lessen or remove financial barriers to schools and students attending theater. Schools can download the subsidy request directly at MCCTheater.org/Education.
Audiences will need to comply with the current MCC Theater's COVID safety policy, which can be viewed here: https://mcctheater.org/covid-safety/.
MCC's Education Programs are supported by the Axe-Houghton Foundation, The Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation, Harold J. Newman† & Ruth Newman, The Pinkerton Foundation, The Eric Rosedale Playwriting Fund, Tiger Baron Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council.
MCC Theater's 2022/23 season begins with the World Premiere of Only Gold, a new musical with music and lyrics by platinum recording artist and BRIT Award winner Kate Nash ("GLOW") and a book by Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton) and Ted Malawer (Everything Beautiful Happens at Night). Blankenbuehler will also direct and choreograph the production, which will begin previews on Wednesday October 5 in the Newman Mills Theater at The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space (511 W 52nd Street New York, NY 10019), with an opening night set for Monday November 7 and a limited run through November 27, 2022.
The season will continue in January with Soho Rep's Wolf Play, in collaboration with Ma-Yi Theater Company, by Hansol Jung (Wild Goose Dreams) and directed by Dustin Wills (Wolf Play, Soho Rep) followed by the World Premiere of Bees and Honey, in collaboration with The Sol Project, by Guadalís Del Carmen (My Father's Keeper) and directed by Melissa Crespo (Native Gardens) in May. MCC will also co-produce the World Premiere production of Wet Brain by John J. Caswell, Jr (Man Cave) and directed by Dustin Wills with Playwrights Horizons (Artistic Director Adam Greenfield, Managing Director Leslie Marcus) in May 2023 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater. MCC will present the 22nd Edition of Uncensored, an MCC Youth Company Production, in Spring of 2023.
ABOUT MCC Theater
MCC Theater is one of New York's leading nonprofit Off-Broadway companies, driven by a mission to provoke conversations that have never happened and otherwise never would. Founded in 1986 by Bob LuPone (1946-2022) and Bernie Telsey, and later joined by co-Artistic Director Will Cantler, as a collective of artists leading peer-based classes to support their own development as actors, writers and directors, MCC fulfills its mission of through the production of world, American, and New York premiere plays and musicals that challenge artists and audiences to confront contemporary personal and social issues, and robust playwright development and education initiatives that foster the next generation of theater artists and students.
MCC Theater's celebrated productions include Donja R. Love's soft; Ross Golan's The Wrong Man; Aziza Barnes' BLKS; Jocelyn Bioh's School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play; Penelope Skinner's The Village Bike; Robert Askins' Hand to God (Broadway transfer; five 2015 Tony Award® nominations including Best Play); John Pollono's Small Engine Repair; Paul Downs Colaizzo's Really Really; Sharr White's The Other Place (Broadway transfer); Jeff Talbott's The Submission (Laurents/Hatcher Award); Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty (Broadway transfer, three 2009 Tony Award® nominations, including Best Play), Some Girl(s), Fat Pig, The Mercy Seat, and All The Ways To Say I Love You; Michael Weller's Fifty Words; Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride; Bryony Lavery's Frozen (Broadway transfer; four 2004 Tony Award® nominations including Best Play, Tony Award® for Best Featured Actor); Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living (2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Margaret Edson's Wit (1999 Pulitzer Prize); and musicals including Alice by Heart, Ride the Cyclone, Carrie, and Coraline. Many plays developed and produced by MCC have gone on to productions throughout the country and around the world.
Over the years MCC has worked with thousands of students through the innovative MCC Youth Company, school partnerships, and student matinee programs.
Executive Director Blake West joined the company in 2006. MCC opened the doors to its new home in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, on January 9, 2019, unifying the company's activities under one roof for the first time and expanding its producing, artist development, and education programming. MCC founding Co-Artistic Director Bob LuPone sadly passed away on August 27, 2022. MCC continues to honor his fierce need for engagement with the art, the artists, and the audience and remember the profound impact he had on everyone who entered its spaces.
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