Arc Stages has already begun planning for 2019 SummerStage, an acting program for children.
Kids will be split up into four groups depending on their age and meet Monday through Fridays from 9 a.m. -4 p.m. During camp students will study acting technique, improv, and stage combat among other theatrical workshops. Students will create musical theater shows that showcase the skills they learn in class.
Three theater companies reside at Arc Stages. The Educational Stage allows for students of all ages to train through master classes, rehearsals and intensive ensemble work. The Community Stage is a community theater company compiled of actors, singers and technicians. Member of the Community Stage come from all over and put on dramas and musicals. Lastly, the Next Stage is a professional theater company. They produce new works, contemporary shows, workshops and staged readings.
The Next Stage just put on a cabaret show, The Sondheim Unplugged, which explored Broadway’s master composer, Stephen Sondheim. The Community Stage also has performances lined up for The 1940’s Radio Hour. There will be four shows starting on Friday, Nov. 30, at 8 p.m.
According to Arc’s website, “The 1940’s Radio Hour is a marvelously theatrical and winning show, a play with music by Walton Jones. Full of 1940s music, dancing, and commercials of the era, the play portrays the final holiday broadcast of the Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade on a New York radio station in December 1942 from the Hotel Astor’s Algonquin Room. Including the hits “Strike Up the Band” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” a fantastic holiday show not to be missed!”
Arc Stages is run by six professional actors, directors and writers. Adam David Cohen is the co-founder of Arc and the Educational Stage. Cohen stands as the artistic director. Ann Shankman is a professional actor and the artistic director of the Community Stage. Stephanie Kovacs Cohen is a director and teaching artist who directs the Educational stage. Galit Sperling is the director of the Educational Stage and teaches the camps as well. Amy Schiff is the Educational Stage’s music director and voice teacher. Marcus Baker, a freelance music director and pianist, works as the Educational and Community Stage’s music director.