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STAGE DOOR CONSERVATORY
Offering after-school and summer day camps focusing on the performing arts and musical theater to children living in Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda and other East Bay communities.
For Creatively Inclined Kids
“What can I say? My son was the happiest he’s
been!”
“My daughter had a wonderful time and enjoyed every
aspect of her participation. Her acting has improved, and
she continued to grow and expand her skills due to the positive
experiences she has had at Stage Door.”
STAGE DOOR CONSERVATORY
was established in 1999 as an outgrowth of the Berkeley-Richmond
Jewish Community Center’s OnStage program. We offer
a variety of programs in musical theater to children in the
3rd through 12th grade, including KIDS ON STAGE, ON BROADWAY,
TEENS ON STAGE and BACKSTAGE.
In addition to exemplary
training and instruction in acting and vocal and dance technique,
and the design and construction of stage sets and props, KIDS
ON STAGE, ON BROADWAY and TEENS ON STAGE conclude with the
performance of a play as a culminating experience, providing
each child with an experience of performing as an actor in
a fully-staged production.
ON BROADWAY and TEENS
ON STAGE present fully staged Broadway plays for three days
each summer - both at the Julia Morgan Center for the
Arts in Berkeley, California. The past five years our productions
of “Oliver”, “Gypsy”, “42nd Street”, “Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, ”Annie”
and “Grease” have been sold to audiences of as
many as 350 persons per performance. Through KIDS ON STAGE,
we also produce five shorter plays each summer, drawing audiences
of an average of 100 persons per performance for casts of
approximately 20 young actors. Our BACKSTAGE participants
are integrally involved in all our productions.
During the weeks preceding
each of our six annual summer productions (one for ON BROADWAY,
one for TEENS ON STAGE and four for KIDS ON STAGE) our cast
and crew undergo an intensive rehearsal process. As a part
of this process, each child is guided through the process
of developing his or her character/s, and learning those songs
or dances he or she may be performing individually or as a
member of a chorus or ensemble. In addition to the group training
activities that are featured as a regular component of our
program, each child is also offered personalized coaching
from our instructors and apprentices to nurture his or her
talents and confidence as a performer.
Although many of our participants
are committed actors, we welcome children with no prior theater
exposure, curious to explore or develop their interests in
the theater arts, and create a warm, welcoming and supportive
environment for learning. Other than ON BROADWAY, which we
will limit to no more than 28 students in 2008, most of our
programs/sessions include no more than 20 children. This helps
ensure that we can provide the highest caliber of training
and support to each child, so that their experience of Stage
Door is as enjoyable and rewarding as possible. It also helps
foster the development of an ensemble among the young persons
in our programs, and provides them with the opportunity to
support and mentor one another as performers.
Although Stage Door Conservatory
includes persons with different levels of experience, and
from varied socio-economic backgrounds and communities, we
stress the importance of cooperation and value each child’s
contributions equally. We also model and practice standards
of communication, problem-solving and decision making as a
part of our activities, so that in addition to training in
the theater arts, our participants have the opportunity to
develop skills that will help them succeed both at school
and in their family and community lives, and in their futures
as adults.
Stage Door Conservatory
is directed by Simon Kaplan with the assistance of General
Manager Rawna Romero and a staff of five artist educators
representing the fields of music, dance, costume design and
stage, set and prop design. Our curriculum and programs incorporate
best practices in theater and arts education, as well as standards
established by the American Camp Association, in which we
are a member.
For the past five years,
support for our programs has been increasing exponentially.
Our enrollment doubled in years one and two, and increased
more than 20% in both 2005 and 2006. Popular and critical
support of our productions has also increased significantly
in the past three years. In addition to tuition and ticket
sales, we are supported through gifts from private donors
and grants from organizations such as the Alameda Art Commission
and the California Council for the Arts. With these successes,
we are embarking upon our second decade with several goals
to further refine and expand our programs, so that we can
continue to provide exemplary arts education in musical theater
to children in our community.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS for 2008
- Provide exemplary
conservatory training and performance opportunities in
musical theater (drama, music, dance, stage and set
design and stage direction) to 200 children
in grades 3 - 12 in 2008, including at least 25
children from low-income Bay Area families and communities
if financially feasible
- Present eight
theatrical productions in 2008, including three fully-staged
Broadway musicals at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts
including The Hobbit, Oliver, and Urinetown!
- Conduct extensive
community outreach in 2008 to ensure that children from
a wide variety of socio-economic and ethnic and cultural
backgrounds are offered the opportunity to participate
in our programs, including a mixture of boys and girls
- Develop a
five year plan with goals for the organization’s
future, and strategies to ensure its long-term sustainability
- Establish
and implement the Stage Door Conservatory Scholarship
Fund for low-income children by January 2008 with an initial
amount of $10,000 from grants and contributions
- Expand participation
in the Stage Door Conservatory’s 2008 Teens on Stage
program to include 35% more students, including teenagers
from low-income Alameda and Contra Costa counties
- Incorporate
specialized skills based workshops into curriculums for
On Broadway and Teens on Stage
- Provide paid
pre-vocational training in musical theater production
to 8 - 12 high school student interns (or trainees)
in 2008
- Further refine
and develop Stage Door Conservatory’s capacities
administratively and organizationally
- Identify and
secure a new community theater venue for the presentation
of five Kids on Stage productions by April 2008
- Further develop
and refine Stage Door Conservatory’s website and
marketing materials in 2008
LINK: Who’s Who
LINK: About Our Programs
LINK: About Enrollment
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