Drama
The Lawrence Arts Center's Drama Program features performing arts classes for children and adults. Instructors are drama professionals with expertise in all aspects of theater. The professional staff includes nationally acclaimed playwright, Ric Averill, costumer, Jennifer Glenn, technical director, Danny Rogovein, and film-makers and directors Christie and Jeff Dobson.
Classes and workshops include beginning, intermediate and advanced acting, story-playing, improvisation, film making, audition techniques and dramatic writing. The Drama program also sponsors performance based groups including City Youth Theater (for High School - 9th-12th grade students) and First Saturday Players (for 6th – 8th grade students.)
The Drama Program works each year with the Dance Program to offer a large Holiday production. In 2008, THE KANSAS NUTCRACKER with an Act I script by Ric Averill and Choreography by Deb Bettinger, will feature a cast of student and adult community dancers and actors working side by side with professional dancers and actors providing on-stage opportunities for more than 100 people and entertainment for six full houses!
In addition, the Drama Program’s Theatre at the Center will offer Productions open to student and community actors. The 2008-2009 productions will be THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, as adapted from Washington Irving by Ric Averill, and THE ICE WOLF, by Johanna Kraus, a play about tolerance set in the Inuit culture, which will be produced in cooperation with the Spencer Museum of Art’s exhibit on artifacts and art of that subsistence culture.
Other productions throughout the year will include THE COPPELIA PROJECT, a ‘Clown Ballet’ and a professional tour of RAPUNZEL. Hot Dog theatre, the second week of May, promises to be another fun family event.
Kansas Nutcracker Thanks
A Kansas Nutcracker 2008 was a great success!
A special thanks to the following for making this production all it could be!
Thank you to our Generous Donors
Many wonderful people and organizations have helped to make A Kansas Nutcracker possible. We thank them for their generosity and belief in this project.
Sugar Plums $250-499
- Tom and Kathleen Hodge
Chocolates $100- 249
- Betsy and Mike McCafferty
- Durand Reiber and Martin Moore
- Thomas and Lori Walton
Coffee Up to $100
- Brigid Murphy and Jackson Clark
- Bill and Brenda Schulteis
Thank you to those parents, teachers and performers who gave hundreds of hours of volunteer effort, baked cookies, ushered, created tiaras, supervised our youngest performers, drove to practices and contributed to this event in so many large and small ways:
Stephanie Ammann, Julia Barton, Marge Bayer, Kari Bentzinger, Susan Buehler, Renee Caldwell, Sara Cameron, Marcie Costello, Kirsty Elliott, Joe and Joann Farb, Marcia Fisher, Janet Fitzgerald, Rebecca Gant, Nils Gore and Shannon Criss, Randi Hacker, Kathleen Hodge, Mary Catherine and Martha Keslar, Molly Krause, Mary Ellen Kriegh, Cindi Kroll-Hauptli, Elizabeth Laufer, Jennifer Laverentz, Dickie Heckler and Beth Anne Mansur, Mary and Natalie Menendez, Edward Mitchell, Brigid Murphy, Rachel and Phil Rademacher, Durand Reiber and Martin Moore, Amanda Reichard, Brenda Schulteis, Denise Severn, Melissa Shankland, Peggy Shopen, Maria Thompson, Barb and Ralph Tomlinson, Noelle Uhler, Laura VanSickle-Deavours, Michele Vignola-Rogers, Lori and Tom Walton, Liz and Eric Weslander, Nancy Yost and Doug Wolff.
And anyone else who stepped in at the last minute to assist in whatever way needed.
Special thanks to Laurie McLane-Higginson and the Free State High School Arts Honors Society for the wonderful tiaras and ornaments and to Vicky Olson and Ann Patterson for the new First Act set design and execution.
Thanks to friends in the community whose assistance is priceless.
The Bay Leaf for coffee, Photographer Michael Manley, Richard Heckler and the following merchants who have generously donated food for the cast party: The Casbah, Checkers Food Store, The Global Café, Great Harvest Bakery, Hy Vee Natural Foods, Ingredient Restaurant, and The Merc.
And thanks to the Dance Program Advisory Committee: Nancy Albrecht, Martha Coffman, Doug Davison, Mary Devlin, Gunda Heibert, Kathleen Hodge, Beth Anne Mansur, Betsy McCafferty, Gary Minden, Peggy Shopen and Joan Stone.
Special thanks to the Clara’s Tea Party Sub-Committee, especially co-chairs Martha Coffman & Betsy McCafferty, for making this event possible!
Special thanks to Beth Ann Mansur and Deborah Bettinger for the toy soldier and mouse ornaments, and other special gift items for the Suite Shoppe.
To the wonderful staff at the Lawrence Arts Center who support this production but are not involved directly, especially new director David Leamon, Ben Ahlvers, Nora Cox, Bonnie Cherry, Mateo Gutierrez, Kris Hermanson, Emma Hoyle, Chancey Jahnig, Kit Leffler, Rick Mitchell, Linda Reimond, Steve Richardson, Laura Rose Clawson (special thanks from Ric), Sandra Sanders, Kyra Sims, Rick Yarnell.
And to the Kansas Nutcracker Project staff who gave countless hours above and beyond the call of duty and whose positive willingness, commitment to excellence, imagination, and joy in dance and theater make all this happen. Thank you!
Thanks to Angie Babbit for sharing her photos!
Adult Classes
Acting, Improvisation, Stage Combat, Dramatic Writing, Film-Making, Singing and Acting for the Camera are some of the annual workshop and weekly class offerings of the drama education program for adults. This constantly evolving program provides opportunities for people to continue their theatre education or investigate unexplored territory and talent.
Children's Classes
From Erin Girard’s Parent/Child pre-school Saturday workshops to Jennifer Glenn’s regular Wednesday acting classes for K-2nd graders and 3rd – 5th graders and the First Saturday Players – there are classes for every age and experience level. Look for Film-Making on Mondays and/or Tuesdays, Dramatic Writing on Thursdays and other workshops offered throughout the year. Students can also sign up to learn about Technical Theatre from Danny Rogovein, learning to run the shows performed by the Drama Education Program. Life long learning skills including concentration, observation, imaginative thinking and cooperation are all a natural part of the drama curriculum.
Summer Youth Theater
The Lawrence Arts Center's most comprehensive theatre education program is Summer Youth Theatre. This program has been available to the youth of Lawrence since 1973. Through the direction of recognized theatre professionals, students will be trained in all aspects of theatre.
Our mission is to create an environment where students can expand their imagination, test the boundaries of creativity, and discover with pride the joyful results of cooperation. Every student is guaranteed to be cast in a show and will have the opportunity to work on lighting, scenery, costumes and all aspects of the production. Programs are offered for grades Kindergarten-3rd, 4th-7th and 8th-12th.