ODDFELLOWS PLAYHOUSE SEEKING YOUNG ACTORS for 2014 Productions!

Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theatre will produce two Connecticut original productions this Spring with actors in grades 6 - 12 through the Teen Rep and Jr. Rep Companies.

The Teen Rep Company is seeking actors ages 14 - 20 for the Connecticut premiere production of  SHE KILLS MONSTERS by Qui Nguyen.  It will be directed by Kristen Palmer.

The show switches between fantasy and reality as his edgy teen focused play tells a story of loss, family, identity and acceptance – in an exciting comic book style.  When Tilly dies suddenly in a car accident her older sister Agnes’s only connection to her is a role playing adventure Tilly left behind. Agnes enters her sister’s fantasy world and learns about who her sister was – while fighting off the real and imagined monsters that plagued Tilly’s short life.

Young Actors will thrive in this show as they develop their acting skills and are part of an ensemble Teen Rep Production project. There will be opportunities for stage combat, choreography, puppetry and creating stage effects.

All interested teens are invited to attend an open workshop to learn more about the script and ensemble at Oddfellows Playhouse on January 6th or 8th from 6-8pm.  Rehearsals start January 13th and will be held every Monday and Wednesday nights from 6 - 8:30pm.

Performances: March 20-23^rd

Tuition: $300.  Financial Aid, Scholarships and Work-Study Available. 

The Jr. Rep Company seeks actors in grades 6 – 8.   This show will also feature a first ever east coast musical production.  The Connecticut premiere production of BUCCANEERS by Liz Duffy Adams will be directed by Lorra Webb.

Young Enid Arabella longs for adventure and escape from her family’s poverty. She runs away and is captured by a pirate king and his crew of kidnapped children. She summons her courage and wits to lead a mutiny and overthrow their oppressor – only to find herself in charge of a crew as fractious as the seas.

This new musical, premiered in 2012, is an exciting performance opportunity for young actors to sing, dance, act and be a part of an ensemble that values their voices and talents at any stage of development. Led by long-time Jr. Rep director Lorra Webb this musical presents great messages about leadership, empowerment and family.

Rehearsals begin January 14th and are held every Tuesday & Thursday, 4:30-6:30pm until the Performances on April 3, 4 and 5th.

Tuition is $300.  Scholarship and Financial Aid are available.

All actors will have a role in the production.  Oddfellows has been producing plays with young people for over 38 years.  The cadre of directors and designers are professional artists with a commitment to young people’s personal growth and artistic development.

To register, or for more information on how to get involved go to oddfellows.org or contact Artistic Director, Kristen Palmer at 860 347 6143, ext. 103.

About us:

Oddfellows Playhouse was founded in 1975 as a community-based, multicultural theater program designed to include children from all backgrounds. Oddfellows remains Connecticut’s largest and most active year-round youth theater, an independent, not-for-profit organization that annually serves over 1,200 young people.  The mission is “ to build essential life skills through the performing arts.”
In 2013 Oddfellows Playhouse was named “Connecticut’s Best Children’s Theatre by Connecticut Magazine.  In 2012 Oddfellows was awarded its very first National Endowment for the Arts award for the Our Town grant. In 2003, Citizens Bank named Oddfellows Playhouse its Community Champion for youth services, and CPTV featured the Playhouse and its program on a special titled art.culture.life. In 1999, the Playhouse received a Community Service Award from the Middlesex County NAACP in recognition of its years of commitment to young people, particularly those challenged by poverty.  The New England Theatre Conference recognized the Playhouse’s history of quality performing arts and youth education with an Award of Excellence in 1998.
The Playhouse has produced over 350 shows, including classics, contemporary and world premieres.

For more information contact:  Kristen Palmer at (860) 347-6143 ext. 103 or Kristen@oddfellows.org.

Fall Classes Starting at Connecticut's Best Children's Theater

Oddfellows Playhouse Fall 2013 Theater classes start Oct 14th!. 

The Fall Session runs for 8 weeks, with programs beginning the week of October 14 and concluding the week of December 9.  There are no classes held the week of Thanksgiving.

Fall Theater Class Registration is Open

Oddfellows Playhouse is pleased to announce its Fall 2013 Programming.  The youth theater, which provides afterschool and weekend theatrical programming, is excited to unveil its programmatic offerings under the guidance and direction of Artistic Director Kristen Palmer.  Oddfellows’ programs use theatre as a vehicle to build essential life skills, while exploring highly educational and creative themes and plays.

Winter Drama Programs - Now Enrolling

Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater is pleased to announce that its Winter 2013 Session will begin the week of January 28.  Oddfellows’ programs use theater as a vehicle to build essential life skills, while exploring highly educational and artistic themes and plays.  There are a variety of performance options and technique based classes for students ages 3-18.

Classes for the Little Fellows (ages 3-4) include Around the World and Animal Adventures. Classes are offered on Saturday mornings.  Looking for something to do during the week with your little one?  Participatory classes include Parents & Tots and Arts Explosion on Thursday mornings at 10am. 

First Act (Grades K-1) offers Creative Drama courses themed around children’s books and adventures such as Fractured Fairytales and Jungle Safari.  Story Starters (Grades 2-3) encourage creative expression and promote confidence, self-esteem, and communication.  Once a week classes focus on skill building, while classes that meet twice a week short productions put those skills into action.  Classes include Peter and the Wolf and Create Your Own Story and a mini-production of Grimm Fairytales.  The Kids Company (Grades 4-5) is the stage that students begin to focus more on skills and techniques.  These courses help develop the next set of vocal, physical and emotional skills.  Technique classes include Fundamentals of Acting, Create a Character and Fundamentals of Musical Theater. An original comedic mini-production is also on tap, called More Rubber Chickens.

The Junior Repertory Company (grades 6-8) offers a full production of Alice Threw the Looking Glass, a parody of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style by John Walch.  In this comedy, First-year college student Alice is in serious danger of failing her English course when she follows her composition paper into the trash -- and ends up in a hallucinatory world where the rules of grammar are turned upside-down. If she wants to pass, she'll need to deal with gunslinging run-on sentences, thugs hawking colloquialisms, fearsome Modifier Leeches, and more. 

The Teen Repertory Company (grades 9-12) will be holding auditions on Tuesday January 29 from 7-9pm.

There are also private lessons, stagecraft, directing and playwrighting classes available for middle and high school students.  A full list of program offerings and public performances can be found online at www.oddfellows.org.

Oddfellows programming is made possible through the generous support of the CDBG Scholarship Program, Citizens Bank, the CT Department of Economic and Community Development, the CT Department of Education, Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Memorial Fund, Elizabeth Carse Foundation, the Fund for Greater Hartford, the George A. and Grace L. Long Foundation, the Irving Kohn Foundation, the J. Walton Bissell Foundation, Liberty Bank Foundation, Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, Middlesex County Community Foundation, Middlesex United Way, the Middletown Commission on the Arts, Middletown YSB, the National Endowment for the Arts, Pratt & Whitney, Price Chopper Golub Foundation, the Stare Fund, Stop and Shop Foundation, Thomas J. Atkins Foundation, Triple Frog, LLC and WESU (88.1FM).

Theater Opportunities for Children of All Ages

Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater is pleased to announce its second Fall 2012 Session will begin the week of October 29.  The youth theater, which provides afterschool and weekend theatrical programming, is excited about the overhaul in program offerings and expansion of the second fall session.  Oddfellows’ programs use theatre as a vehicle to build essential life skills, while exploring highly educational and artistic themes and plays.