[NEohioPAL] Shaker Theatre Presents the Spring Ensemble Show

McBurney, Christine mcburney_c at Shaker-Heights.k12.oh.us
Thu Apr 25 06:03:49 PDT 2013


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Shaker Heights High School Theatre Arts Department proudly presents the Spring Ensemble Show.

Shaker Heights, Ohio (April 19, 2013) - The Senior Ensemble will be joined by the Junior and Advanced Ensembles on the Shaker Heights High School stage in the Large Auditorium. The production is directed by Ensemble Program Director Erik Johnson, 1998 Shaker Theatre alum.  Considered “devised” theatre, Ensemble performances are simultaneously created and rehearsed.  Working with a few themes, the performers combine poetry, song, original movement and dance pieces created by themselves and in workshops with staff, guest artists, and alumni.

Although some of the material for the show has yet to be selected, we are exploring a variety of stimuli.  The Junior Ensemble, working with Senior Ensemble member Kevin Parker and Junior Ensemble co-instructor and Department Chair Christine McBurney, studied the archetypal characters and slapstick physical comedy of the Italian performance art form, Commedia dell’arte.

With Associate Artist Wendy Kriss, the Senior Ensemble and Advanced ensemble are creating original movement pieces, drawing on their study of Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints, development movement, and weight sharing techniques inspired by Pilobolus and Inlet Dance Theatre. The Senior Ensemble’s piece will be set to original music recorded by Juilliard-trained marimba player and Shaker graduate Luke Rinderknecht ’01, who is also active with City Music Cleveland and the Buffalo Philharmonic.

Lastly, Katie Daley, a local poet and longtime collaborator with Shaker Theatre, has been holding writing workshops on the theme of racial integration at Shaker. The collage script will include writing from Ensemble students, S. G. O. R. R. members (Student Group on Race Relations), and alumni who themselves experienced the early years of this unique Shaker experience. Students have been responsive and open to such a serious theme, and look forward to sharing their exploration with you.  The final piece will include live music & a celebratory, high-energy movement piece.

Named a center of excellence by the National Council of Teachers of English, Shaker Theatre includes 8 daily classes and a production season including four main stage performances, six “showcase” performances, as well as professional workshops, touring performances, and special events throughout the school year.

 *   Performances of the Spring Ensemble Show are at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 2nd , Friday May 3rd , and Saturday, May 4th
 *   The free Senior Adult Preview is at 4:00 pm Wednesday, May 1st. This is our dress rehearsal of the show and guests may leave at intermission or stay for the whole dress rehearsal.
 *   Shaker Heights High School Large Auditorium, 15911 Aldersyde Dr.
 *   Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and senior adults.

 *
 Tickets may be purchased the week before the show online at www.tix.com<http://www.tix.com/>.
 *   Associate level patrons can reserve their complimentary tickets by calling the box office at 216-295-4287.
 *   For more information, please call 216-295-4281 or email johnson_ea at shaker.org<mailto:johnson_ea at shaker.org>.
 Ensemble in the Community
Over the last nine years, a major focus of the Ensemble Program has been reaching out to the community through touring performances.  The Senior Ensemble has performed at Fusion Fest at the Cleveland Play House; the iNGENUiTY festival downtown; and in alum Jon Leiken’s (SHHS ’90) A Concert for Cleveland’s Future and Cleveland: The Musical at the newly restored Hanna Theatre.  They’ve enjoyed a collaboration with Hathaway Brown’s Department of Dance; a benefit for the Ludlow Community Association; a performance and workshop at Mercer and Onaway Elementary Schools; performances at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes and Sunrise Assisted Living Center; annual performances at Shaker Middle School and A Night for the Red and White and the city of Shaker Heights’ Shaker Centennial.  The Ensemble continues its outreach to the community at the annual Senior Adult Preview on Wednesday, May 1st at 4:00 p.m.

Staff, Guest Artists, and Alumni

Shaker Theatre Students are fortunate to have two full time staff members and a wide range of professionals to support their work.  Along with Ensemble Program Director Erik Johnson, Department Chair and Junior Ensemble co-instructor Christine McBurney continues to enhance the Ensemble’s work.  Long time associate artist, Wendy Kriss, who studied corporeal mime in Paris under Etienne Decroux, has been a major contributor to the growth of this Ensemble and the program since 1980.


This year’s production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It was influenced by a variety of guest artists, including: Contra Dance instructors Carole Wallencheck and Jeannie Koran, Costume Designer Inda Blatch-Geib, Dramaturg Dr. Pauline Thornton, actor Russell G. Jones ‘88, and Ben Karlin ’07, a stage manager in New York.

Other staff for this production includes Stage Manager Brendan O’Connell ‘12; Box Office Manager Barrie Sandman; Production Assistant and Videographer Brian G. McCann; Technical Director and Lighting Designer Chuck Tisdale; Shaker alum and poet, Katie Daley; Mikel Mahoney an artist, graphic designer, and political cartoonist; Juilliard-trained musician Luke Rinderknecht ‘01; SGORR (Student Group On Race Relations) Leader, Halle Bauer ‘06; and Josh Brown of Inlet Dance Theatre. Brendan, Barrie, Hallie, and Luke are Shaker Theatre alums and this is Chuck’s 17th year collaborating with the Ensemble program.

Over the past four years, a number of other artists have made major contributions to the growth of these students, made possible largely by donations through our Patron Program. The founder of the program, the late James Thornton, and his son Matthew Thornton ’92 has both had major residencies. Matthew along with his wife Alicia is co-founder of Agua Dulce Dance Theatre and has performed with Pilobolus Dance Theatre. Other artists have included dancer, costumer, and choreographer, Megan Pitcher of Meg Louise Dance; costume designer Kathryn Mussleman Tobasko; and Shaker alumni parent and staff member Bruce Jennings, who has composed original music for the Ensemble Program. Other guests have included Tracy Pattison, Barbara and Sabbatino Verlezza of Verlezza Dance; dialect coaching and choreography with actress Derdriu Ring; Alan Shind, a student of Master Kwon Ko and a Black Belt Master rank in the art of Kiaido; Taran Brown ‘11, a trainee with Inlet Dance Theatre; a Film Forum with guest artist filmmakers Jamie Babbit ’87, Robert Banks, and Eric Swinderman, and TV writer Kerry Dornetto; a stage combat workshop with Melissa Freilich ’09; visits from Jamie O’Brien ’98, Danielle Saks ’05, and Jenny Waletzsky ’09, all of whom are working in stage management in New York; a Shakespeare workshop with Geoff Bullen, Associate Director of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London; and Megan Pincombe Johnson of Coventry Dance Company.


Contact: Erik Johnson             216-295-4281
24 Hour Box Office: 216-295-4287 or www.tix.com<http://www.tix.com/>


Christine McBurney
Theatre Arts Dept. Chair
Shaker Heights High School
15911 Aldersyde Dr.
Shaker Heights, OH 44120
216.295.4258
216.295.4277 fax
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