Teen THEATRE COMPANY (High school)

Teen Theatre is an audition only program that runs from September through February. Auditions are held each fall.   Our Teen company will be working on three large projects throughout the year: a full-length musical, a 10-minute competitive cut of a musical and an individual piece (or pieces) for competition at MTCA. When committing to Teen Theatre, you are committing to the entire year and all performances and the MTCA competition regardless of the roles received.

Our full-length production this year will be Hadestown Teen Edition.  Our Teen Theatre Company will compete in The Musical Theatre Competitions of America in February with a cut of Prom. They will also choose to develop one (or more) of the following for individual competition: a vocal solo, a vocal duet, a monologue, a dance solo, a set design, a costume design or a makeup design. Additionally, teens have the option of becoming interns, volunteering as techs, assistant directors, assistant choreographers etc. All students in this program are asked to attend the Musical Theatre Competitions of America in Southern California but can choose to opt out of the trip if they would like to but it does not change the price of tuition.

TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS 6-8PM

Director/Choreographer: Chelsea Gaskin

Musical Director: Kevin Weinert

Requires an audition in the fall for acceptance

REQUIRED MEETINGS * Mandatory attendance for performer and at least one parent

• Orientation

  • Sat Sept 6th from 2:30 - 4:30PM * Mandatory attendance for performer and at least one parent

• Travel Meeting

  • Weds January 7th 6:30 - 8:30pm * Mandatory attendance for performer and at least one parent if you are going to MTCA
    

AUDITIONS FOR ROLES

• SATURDAY 9/20 Auditions for Roles for PROM and HADESTOWN

REHEARSALS AT STARLIGHT (Note: Attendance for the last 7 rehearsals before a tech week or the last two weeks before any performance are mandatory to be allowed to perform)

• TUESDAYS 6:00 - 8:30PM 9/16, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, (No class 11/11 Veterans Day) 11/18, (no class 11/25 Thanksgiving Week) 12/2, 12/9, 12/16 (no class 12/23, 12/30 Winter Break) 1/6, 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 3/24

• THURSDAYS 6:00 - 8:30PM 9/18, 9/25, 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 10/23, 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, 11/20, (no class 11/27 Thanksgiving Week), 12/4, 12/11**many students will be at Beetlejuice Tech but others may be called for rehearsal , 12/18, (No class 12/25, 1/1 Winter Break) 1/8, (no class 1/15 JT Tech) 1/22, 1/29 (no class 2/5 MTCA) 2/12

• SATURDAYS 12 - 6 10/11, 11/15, 11/22

• SUNDAYS 12 - 6 10/12, 11/16, 11/30

  
  

TECH REHEARSALS for Hadestown At the Starlight Theater (Attendance is mandatory, a student who misses any part of any tech rehearsal will not be allowed to perform)

• Sunday Feb 15th

  • 11:00 - 2:00 Load In (Performer plus a parent, help set up stage)

  • 2:00 - 3:00 pm All performers released and allowed to leave building for lunch break

  • 3:00 - 9:00 pm Tech rehearsal (Full costume, no hair/makeup required) Pack a nut-free, glass-free meal

• Monday Feb 16th

  • 4:00 - 9:45 Tech rehearsal (Full costume, full hair/no makeup required) Pack a nut-free, glass-free meal

• Tuesday Feb 17th

  • Dark Day: No rehearsal, take a rest! (Or go to your regular classes if you are in Tuesday classes)

• Wednesday Feb 18th

  • 4:00 - 9:45 Tech rehearsal (Full costume, full hair/full makeup required) Pack a nut-free, glass-free meal

• Thursday Feb 19th

  • 4:00 - 9:45 Tech rehearsal (Full costume, full hair/full makeup required) Pack a nut-free, glass-free meal

PERFORMANCES / COMPETITIONS (Attendance is mandatory)

• Holiday Cabaret Performance

  • Sun Dec 21st at 3:00 at the Starlight Theatre (call time 12pm)

• Solo Show Day (TBD)

• MTCA Competition

  • February 5th - 9th in Anaheim California

• Hadestown at the Starlight Theatre

  • Fri Feb 20th at 7:00pm (call time 4:00pm)

  • Sat Feb 21st at 2:00pm (call time 12:30pm)

  • Sat Feb 21st at 7:00pm (call time 5:30pm)

    • *This is a possible added performance once we know Prom schedules, please keep the time available

  • Sun Feb 22nd at 2:00pm (call time 12:30pm)

  
  

  • Fri Feb 27th at 7:00pm (call time 4:00pm)

  • Sat Feb 28th at 2:00pm (call time 12:30pm)

  • Sat Feb 28thth at 7:00pm (call time 5:30pm)

    • *This is a possible added performance, keep the time available

  • Sun March 1st at 2:00pm (call time 12:30pm)

• Showcase Performance:

  • Saturday March 28th at 2:00 pm at the Starlight Theatre

  
  

  Required: Black jazz shoes, Team jacket

Tuition: $1395

• Included in your tuition professional photos of your show, professional recording of your show, tee shirt

• Not included but required: Black Jazz shoes, Team Jacket

• Please note, tuition does not include the price of tickets to the performance, which are sold separately

Competition Fee: $3200

• What is included in travel fees?

  • Your flights, hotel, competition entry fees, 1 solo fee for MTCA, transportation to and from the hotel/airport, Knotts Berry Farm ticket, Disneyland ticket, most of your meals, competition tee shirt. (does not include team jacket which is required if you do not already own one, it is the same as the dance team jacket)

What to wear to rehearsals: Black jazz shoes and comfortable clothes they can move in (no jeans). Hair pulled up out of face. Please pack a water bottle. (Jazz shoes can be purchased through us on site, or through any dance wear store or on Amazon)

What to wear to performances: We will provide the majority of your costumes. Students costumes will vary but performers will be required to wear black jazz shoes and full stage makeup and hair tbd. Dependent upon the costume student will probably be asked to wear their own black pants or leggings or tights or may be asked to provide simple basics such as plain tank tops, pants or tee shirts.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Theatre is the ultimate team activity. It is so important that everyone is at all their rehearsals. It is impossible to adequately rehearse a scene or teach choreography when some of the cast is missing. Please list ALL of absences/conflicts on the conflict sheet. All conflicts must be turned in BY orientation to be considered excused. No new conflicts will be accepted. Please take the time to check all schedules sports, school conflicts, family activities, etc. when listing your conflicts.

HOW TO REPORT AN ABSENCE

• ALL absences, whether excused or not, must be reported in the conflict sheet through our website EVEN IF you told the teacher in person. If it is not reported on the sheet BEFORE the class starts you absolutely will be removed from the material addressed in class at that time.

EXCUSED ABSENCES

• Anything (up to 3) that is turned in on the conflict sheet by Orientation

• Medical Emergency or severe illness reported at least an hour before class starts (must have a doctor’s note)

• Family Emergency reported at least an hour before class starts (Requires a phone call from parent to teacher and detailed information)

• Unavoidable School Conflict that will impact your grade (requires a letter from the teacher on school letterhead that details the time and day of the conflict, the fact that missing it will hurt the student’s grade and the date the student was informed of this conflict. Note that the date must show that student alerted Starlight teacher of the conflict as soon as possible. (We simply do not believe that you found out two days before your Chirstmas concert that you had a Christmas concert and the teacher won’t let you miss it.)

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES

• Everything in excess of 3 excused absences

• Non-emergency Doctors/Dentists/Orthodontist appointments (please schedule them on a different day)

• Spontaneous family vacations or dinners (please schedule them in advance)

  • Any student with more than 3 Late/Unexcused absences may be benched from performances or competitions and understudies assigned to your role.

NOT ACCEPTED

• Any absence in the 7 days before a competition or performance (this are mandatory, no exceptions)

• Any absence during a competition or performance

REPERCUSSIONS

• After 1 unexcused absence, your child may be removed from the scene and/or song that was rehearsed on that date and or their role in that song reduced, lines in that scene redistributed or their placement moved to the back.

• After 2 unexcused absences, your child will be removed from scene and/or song that was rehearsed on that date AND they are required to write an essay, topic given by Director.

• After 3 unexcused absences, your child will be removed from the show/program.

  
  

WE ARE NOT MONSTERS

• We are imperfect, and we understand that you are too. We will work with you and we do not punish or hold to strict rules for fun. Respect our time, communicate early and often and we will do our best to help and understand. We understand that unavoidable things will come up and we will try to make them work when you come to us early. But please, treat us with respect and treat the program like the serious, pre-professional program that it is. Do not wait until the last minute to communicate a conflict you have known about for ages, do not lie about conflicts or schedule other events or trips during our rehearsals. They are precious to us.

MAKING UP FOR MISSED MATERIAL

Regardless of excused or not, if you miss a rehearsal it is your responsibility to reach out to your peers and learn the missed material BEFORE the next rehearsal if you want the teacher to consider keeping you in the numbers or scenes that were rehearsed in your absence. If you know in advance that you will be out of town, reach out to a peer and make sure they record the material for you.

medical and/or mental health POLICY

If a medical, emotional or psychological emergency  of any kind occurs in the 90 minutes before a performance is scheduled to start (meaning if at any point, however briefly, during said 90 minutes, that performer is incapacitated or would have been incapable of executing their role onstage) then the following will occur. 

• Regardless of whether the performer deems themselves ready by the time the show is scheduled to start, the performer WILL NOT be allowed to perform in that performance. 

• The performer may rejoin the cast for (if some remain) any remaining performances in the run of the show if they are in good health. 

• For all performances, there will be one staff member designated to be the “Emergency Lead” during any such an event. That Emergency Lead shall have the ONLY and FINAL say over a performer’s eligibility to perform and cannot be overruled by staff, performers or parents. 

• The Emergency lead may choose to make a reasonable exception to the rule ONLY if the student is absolutely 100% fully recovered and a medical or mental health professional unrelated to the performer has assessed the performer and given approval. 

• If an understudy is available or accommodations can be made to allow the performance to continue without the performer then all best attempts will be made to do so, but in the event that the performer is irreplaceable, it is Starlight’s firm policy that the health and safety of our performers is more important than any performance and we will cancel a performance if necessary. 

• If a student/performer has a known condition that may interfere with their ability to perform, Starlight invites them to develop a plan in collaboration with staff in advance of any performance or event and that any accommodations or plans negotiated in advance and approved by the studio owner will be shared with staff and the emergency lead and may supersede this policy. 

BEHAVIOR/SAFETy/BULLYING POLICY

Starlight is, above all, a SAFE PLACE and we take any violations of that safety very seriously. We do not tolerate bullying, violence, cruelty or slander of our students, staff, community or studio.

UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIORS

• Physical violence or agression - pushing, poking, kicking, hitting, biting, pinching etc.

• Verbal abuse - name calling, sarcasm, spreading rumors, threats, teasing, belittling.

• Emotional abuse- isolating others, tormenting, threatening gestures, ridicule, humiliation, intimidating, excluding, manipulation and coercion, homophobic comments

• Sexual abuse- unwanted physical contact, inappropriate touching, abusive comments, exposure to inappropriate content

• Online /cyber bullying - posting cruel things on social media, sharing photos, sending nasty text messages

• Vandalism/Theft/Intentionally damaging property

• Slander - sharing information whether online, text, social media or in person that is intentionally cruel or damaging to others or the studio.

  
  

REPERCUSSIONS

• First offense:

  • Student is spoken to by teacher and asked to sit out.

  • Parent is informed, a formal note is sent home and must be returned, signed by student and a parent before participating again. Note includes clear explanation of what happened and requires student to write out their version and exactly what they promise to do moving forward 

• Second offense

  • Student is spoken to by teacher and asked to sit out.

  • Parent is informed, a formal note is sent home and must be returned, signed by student and a parent before participating again. Note includes clear explanation of what happened and requires student to write out their version and exactly what they promise to do moving forward 

  • Student must write an essay about what Starlight community means to that student, why their behavior is a violation to everyone in the community and how it impacts the others in their. community. Essay may be required to be read in front of the class

  • Parent is called to come in to speak to the teacher and studio owner to discuss the behavior in person.

• Third offense:

  • Student is benched from performing at next event (but still required to attend, in uniform)

• Fourth offense:

  • Student is dismissed from company and ineligible to return

    
    

  ***At Teachers/Dance Director’s/Studio Owner’s discretion depending on the severity of the offense, several of these steps may be skipped. NOTE: ANY behavior involving weapons, serious bodily harm or sexually exploitative behavior/touching will result in immediate expulsion.

Check out our dropbox link for access to all music, detailed schedules and more