Center Stage Players Present
Dylan Kittleman  |
Arsenic and Old Lace
Directed by Dylan Kittleman
June 10-13
Tickets Available Here!
In all the years I was an actor in school and at kidsActing, I never thought I would be actually directing my own play. However, Dede Clark, in one the many pep talks she periodically has with the casts she teaches, told me she thought I had the makings of a good director. She said I had creative ideas, powerful visions and a good combination of being "left-brained" and "right-brained." So, when Center Stage Texas was formed, I jumped on the bandwagon to mount a full-scale production. In September 2009, the newly-formed Center Stage Players produced And Then There Were None, an Agatha Christie mystery, with me at the helm! Thus began my career as a director.
Our set designer, Theada Bellenger, told me about a period play about two spinster sisters that kill people and bury them in their cellar, Arsenic and Old Lace. I read it and decided I would love to direct it. I submitted a proposal form and concept statement for approval to Center Stage Texas' Board of Directors. Once approved, I met with the designers and learned how to budget the production. I then presented costume renderings, budget spreadsheets and architectural break-downs to the Board for budgetary approval. It was a long process but worth it to make the production a reality and look the way I imagined it when I first read the script.
T
Anna Binder, Eric Meo and
Ros Bellenger star in
Arcenic and Old Lace  |
heatre developed me into the
confident person I am today. I have been acting since I was 10 and am
now an 18-year-old recent high school graduate. Unlike the many jobs I
fantasized myself having (train engineer, a teacher and a veterinarian),
I finally feel like I have found my calling. It's a wonderful feeling
to wake up in the morning and be excited about what I'm going to do that
day. Theatre has that effect on many children. A child at the age of 5
or 8 or 13 can walk into a theatre and be introspective, feel like an
outsider, and -- as I did -- lonely. However, after a semester of
learning lines, rehearsing, being part of a group, the same kid will
leave with an entirely different outlook on life and himself. My parents
have always been very supportive of my efforts in theatre because, as
my father said, "KidsActing completely changed you. You went from being a
shy and unhappy kid to being exuberant and full of life.
-Dylan Kittleman
|
Children's Day Art Park
|
Kids 18 years of age and younger
are invited to submit their short
films for the Cinemakids festival in September. Registration forms and
entry criteria can be found online. Submissions must be received by July
1. $15
registration fee.
|
 There truly is no place like home as the wonderful WIZARD
OF OZ twists its way to a city near you!The entire family will be
captivated as they travel down the Yellow Brick Road and beyond with
Dorothy, Toto and their friends in this lavish production featuring
breathtaking special effects, dazzling choreography and classic songs.THE WIZARD OF OZ will blow you away from the moment the
tornado touches down and transports you to a dazzling art deco Oz,
complete with munchkins and flying monkeys.
|
Bring the 10-and-younger set for a night on the town. Well, more
like an afternoon, but there will be dancing to a live DJ. More than
that, you'll be dancing on live sharks under the dance floor. All kids
must be accompanied by an adult.
$9-10.50 |
|
Grease
EmilyAnn Theater
May 28-June 20
It
is 1959 and Rydell high is filled with rebellious, thrill-loving
students. In the midst of this scene, Sandy Dumbrowski enters as the new
girl in school. It turns out that she and the leader of the Burger
Palace Boys gang, Danny Zuko, have had a brief love affair the summer
before. As the show goes on, the students at Rydell High have to deal
with love, gang violence, peer pressure, and friendship all while
dancing and singing to some of the most beloved songs from the 1950's.
|
Welcome back to a kidsActing Alum!
|
Kirk German  | Kirk German is a third-generation Austinite who has been involved with kidsActing in a variety of capacities for two whole decades. He took his first class exactly twenty years ago in the summer of 1990 at the age of 12 and started performing in (and co-writing) dozens of shows for kidsActing over the next five years, including originating roles in the world premieres of Monsters! and Bugs. He then made the transition to teacher's assistant (and scriptwriter) for several summers and school semesters before attending Middlebury College in Vermont, where he earned a Bacherlor's degree in Theatre, Literature, and Art History, graduating cum laude. Since happily returning to his hometown in 2002, Kirk has periodically taught classes for kidsActing and directed several of their musicals, including West Side Story ('04), You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown ('03), and Aladdin ('02).
Kirk has performed and directed for a wide array of local theatre companies over the last seven years, including Austin Playhouse, Austin Lyric Opera, Zilker Theatre Productions, Tex-Arts, and Second Youth Family Theatre; during that time, he has earned four B. Iden Payne nominations (even winning one as part of a five-person "Outstanding Cast" for Hello Muddah/Hello Fadduh at the J in 2006). In 2008, he and his partner Heather Huggins started their own theatre company, DA! Theatre Collective, which in just two-and-a-half years has produced seven critically acclaimed original productions (two of which he wrote) and has garnered several awards and nominations, including a Critics' Choice Award from the Austin Chronicle for "Best Non-Profit Upstart". You can learn lots more about Kirk and DA! at www.datheatrecollective.org/kirk.aspx .
Kirk is looking forward to teaching and directing for kidsActing once again this summer, and is especially excited about co-directing Waking Sleeping Beauty. Other summer plans include playing Rooster in Annie, this year's Zilker Summer Musical (come on down to the Hillside!) and taking his original children's show, Heron & Crane, to the New York International Fringe Festival in August (come on up to Manhattan!). When all this isn't keeping him busy, you can also find Kirk teaching at Huntington-Surrey School and singing lead vocals for The Greatest American Heroes, Austin's favorite TV Theme Song Cover Band.
|
|
|
Summer Camps in 12 Location
Voted BEST in the Austin Chronicle's Readers Poll 5 years in a row!
|
|
The Center Stage Players
Present:
|
|
Arsenic and Old Lace
a play by Joseph Kesselring
June 10-13
One Weekend ONLY
The Center Stage Players present
their second youth-lead production, Arsenic and Old Lace.
Directed by Dylan Kittleman, this macabre, classic American comedy set
in Brooklyn follows the highjinks of a well-meaning but crazy family
with a strange sense "charity". Come spend some time with
the Brewster sisters, but maybe pass on the elderberry wine!
|
Volunteer Opportunities!
 Do you need community service hours?
Would you like to be more involved
with the kidsActing community by
volunteering?
Get info on volunteering
for kidsActing by joining
our
kidsActing volunteer e-group kidsacting@yahoogroups.com
|
| Contact Information |
kidsActing at
Center Stage Texas
2826 Real Street
Austin, TX 78722
836-KIDS (5437)
www.kidsactingstudio.com
www.centerstagetexas.com
|
|
