The Bucks County Playhouse and Newtown Arts Company's Student Festival Begins 4/22

The Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) and Newtown Arts Company welcome the return of a student theater festival to the newly reopened Playhouse after an absence of two years. The BCP Student Theater Festival, produced by Newtown Arts Company and The Playhouse, will feature high schools and middle schools from the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area. The Bucks County Playhouse is located at 70 South Main Street in New Hope, PA.

The festival begins on Monday, April 22nd and will take place over six days. Performances are open to the general public and general admission tickets are $10 per person for each full day or $25 for a full access pass. Performances begin at 10 am. Tickets can be purchased on the BCP website (http://www.bcptheater.org/shows-events/bucks-county-playhouse-student-theater-festival/) or by calling the box office at (215) 862-2121.

Students will perform on the landmark Playhouse stage, graced by such luminaries as Angela Lansbury, Liza Minnelli and Robert Redford, and receive constructive feedback from theater professionals including Broadway performers and Academy Award winners. A complete list of participating schools and adjudicators is listed below.
Awards will be given out in various categories including Outstanding Solo Performance, Outstanding Student Directed Production, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, among others.

"The student theater festival was hosted annually by the Bucks County Playhouse for 43 years until its closure in 2010. The Newtown Arts Company brilliantly stepped into the void and continued the tradition. We are delighted the festival is returning to its home and equally delighted to be partnering with Newtown Arts Company," said Jed Bernstein, BCP's Producing Director.

Kristin Kauffman, Artistic Director of the event, loved attending the New Hope festival while in high school. After The Playhouse closed in 2010, she "couldn't bear for students to lose this opportunity to celebrate theater and learn from each other as well as the pros."

Kauffman spearheaded the development of the Newtown Student Theatre Festival, produced by Newtown Arts Company, a nearby Bucks County community theater group, and Newtown Theatre, a historic movie house and performance venue.

"We kept the festival alive for two years and now we're excited to help bring it back to the place where it all began," adds Kauffman.

The Festival will also feature stagecraft workshops presented by special guest instructors including Festival Ambassador and Tony Award nominee, John Tartaglia. Each day of the event will culminate in an awards ceremony recognizing excellence in different aspects of the theater arts.

This year's festival is made possible in part by a generous contribution from our sponsor, ShopRite.

Other festival partners include Bitter Bob's Authentic BBQ, McDonald's, Blue Penguin Yogurt, and Millevoi Brothers Auto Centers.

The 2013 Festival Schedule (Subject to change)
APRIL 22
. Neshaminy High School, Langhorne, PA
. Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ
. Lawrence High School , Lawrenceville, NJ
. Christ the King, Manville, NJ

APRIL 23
. Vineland High School, Vineland, NJ
. Mater Dei Prep, New Monmouth, NJ
. Fair Lawn High School, Fair Lawn, NJ
. Clayton High School, Clayton, NJ

APRIL 29
. Pennridge High School, Perkasie, PA
. Mount Olive High School, Flanders, NJ
. Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, Rumson, NJ
. Passaic Valley High School, Little Falls, NJ
. Freehold High School, Freehold, NJ
. The Solebury School, New Hope, PA

APRIL 30
. Chatham High School, Chatham, NJ
. Harry S. Truman High School, Levittown, PA
. Pennsbury High School, Fairless Hills, PA
. Wilson High School, West Lawn, PA

MAY 1
. Spring Grove High School, Spring Grove, PA
. Westfield High School, Westfield, NJ
. International Christian High School, Philadelphia, PA
. Pennsbury High School, Fairless Hills, PA

MAY 6
. Cherry Hill High School East, Cherry Hill, NJ
. Pottsville Area High School, Pottsville, PA
. State College Area High School, State College, PA
. The Pennington School, Pennington, NJ
. Roosevelt Intermediate School, Westfield, NJ
. Christ the King Middle School, Manville, NJ

Festival Adjudicators (Listed alphabetically and subject to change)
Courtney Balan (Broadway: Cry-Baby and BCP: A Grand Night for Singing)
Joe Carlucci (Professional actor with multiple national tour, cruise ship and regional theatre credits)
Joe Doyle (Co-Founder and General Manager of the Actors' NET of Bucks County)
Justin Guarini (Broadway: American Idiot, and BCP: It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play)
Garth Kravits (Broadway: The Drowsy Chaperone, BCP: It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play)
Sarah Knittel ( Professional actress, graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts)
Joe McKernan (Walnut Street Theatre, God of Carnage, TV's "30 Rock")
Kenita Miller (Broadway: The Color Purple, BCP: A Grand Night for Singing)
Lauren Molina (Broadway: Rock of Ages, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play)
Jill Paice (Broadway: Curtains, BCP: It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play)
Jim Peck (Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania)
Amanda Pipe (Education Production Associate at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia)
Mark Price (Broadway: All Shook Up, BCP: It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play)
Mark Rosenthal (Hollywood screenwriter including: Mona Lisa Smile, Jewel of the Nile)
Zuzanna Szadkowski (TV's "Gossip Girl", BCP: The Vagina Monologues)
Ted Tally (Academy Award winner for best adapted screenplay for The Silence of the Lambs)

Located 90 minutes from New York City, the Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 on the site of a grist mill dating from the late eighteenth century. Ironically, the structure was at that time in danger of demolition; however playwright Moss Hart and the local community rallied to save the building and re-opened it as a theatrical venue, which quickly became one of the country's most famous regional theaters, with a veritable who's who of American theatrical royalty including Kim Hunter, Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, Colleen Dewhurst, Shirley Booth, Lillian Gish, June Lockhart, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Leslie Nielsen and Walter Matthau and remained in continuous operation until December 2010. Thanks to the Bridge Street Foundation, the non-profit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty with Tanya Cooper as President, this beloved theatrical landmark was re-opened and celebrated on July 2, 2012, exactly 73 years and a day from when it originally opened in 1939.
Newtown Arts Company, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, is dedicated to supporting and promoting the theater arts in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and surrounding areas. Founded in 1983, the company presents a season of family-friendly dramas, comedies and musicals at the historic Newtown Theatre and develops theater arts education programs for area residents. Newtown Arts Company has awarded over $92,000 in scholarships to students pursuing higher education in the fine and performing arts over the past three decades. The company celebrates its 30th anniversary season this year.

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