Youth Theatre Company Kicks Off New Space and New Arts Opportunities With Lin-Manuel Miranda's IN THE HEIGHTS

Gateway Center for Performing Arts' Youth Theatre Company will conclude its 2016-2017 Mainstage Season with Tony Award-winning In The Heights, featuring music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Broadway hip hop sensation Hamilton. In The Heights performs at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, 3125 S. Kingshighway Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63139, April 7th-9th.

In The Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood - a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It's a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind. In The Heights is the winner of the 2008 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations.

In January 2017, GCPA moved to a new studio space in the heart of Webster Groves, and with the opening of these doors comes many new opportunities for young performers. In The Heights - featuring a diverse cast of 34 actors Grades 6th - 12th from all over the St. Louis area - was the inaugural program in the new studio, for the first time taking advantage of large studios, mirrors, and a sprung dance floor. The Youth Theatre Company previously rehearsed in local church and school classrooms and gymnasiums, and the cast and creative team welcomed the opportunity to push their skills to new heights for this exciting production. GCPA also welcomed Anna Skidis Vargas, local performer and founder of Theatre Nuevo, as Dialect Coach to the cast and creative team.

GCPA is excited to expand their educational offerings in the new studio as well. Fall and Spring semester classes, private lessons, and special master classes and workshops have always been a part of the GCPA education lineup. Additionally, GCPA is offering a Weekend Walk-In Series, featuring walk-in classes on select Friday nights through May 12th with a rotating lineup of industry professionals including Lara Teeter, Larry Pry, Ben Nordstrom, and many more. GCPA also offers a full summer of week-long camps for Grades K-8th , summer evening classes for Grades K - Adult, and summer productions of Annie KIDS (Grades K-4th), Zombie Prom Atomic Edition (Grades 5th-8th), and Carrie The Musical (Grades 9th-12th).

Visit www.gcpastl.org/in-the-heights for more information. Tickets are $15 General Admission and can be purchased online at www.gcpastl.org/tickets. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the box office prior to each show.

ABOUT GCPA: Gateway Center for Performing Arts is a non-profit organization that seeks to strengthen, enrich, and shape the communities of St. Louis by providing exceptional performing arts exposure, education, and expression. Founded 2013, GCPA believes that musical theatre, at its core, is a performance art, and one cannot truly have a complete experience without live performance. The GCPA Youth Theatre Company was created in 2014 to fulfill an important part of GCPA's mission to provide opportunities for ST. Louis youth to express and experience high quality performing art.

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