The workshop, part of the Studio Y Players community theater group at the Klein Branch, offers teenagers and young adults between the ages of 15 and 23 an opportunity to get hands-on experience in every aspect of theater - from on stage to backstage. Some younger children were needed for this summer's show because a few of the characters in The Music Man are young children.
The workshop, which lasts for six weeks, is in its eighth year. There are rehearsals four nights a week, and the workshop concludes with a full-scale production of a musical or play. This summer, about 50 people auditioned to be in a cast of 35.
"The original intent (of the workshop) was to provide ongoing activity for actors who had outgrown the teen show" division of the theater workshop program, Pat Appino, managing director of the Studio Y Players, said last week.
But the summer production has become a project in which the whole family can participate, said Sam Marder, the newly appointed board chairman for Studio Y. The 21-member board is responsible for determining the season's offerings.
"It is community theater to serve the community at large in a cultural fashion, but it's not just entertainment. It's a place for the family to get together," said Marder, whose daughter, Aimee, choreographed this summer's production, in which she also has a role.
The electronics-sales representative also sees the workshop as an ideal learning environment, "a good experience for the kids, where they can get together and create something."
The director of the production agreed. "I like to be a part of the creation as opposed to just moving around on stage," said Alexandria Pieroni, 23, who graduated from Trenton State College with a bachelor's degree in theater. A self-described "theater addict," she commutes more than 30 miles
from Trenton for the rehearsals.
