Media Advisory
Press Contact:
Julia Guzman
Public Relations Manager
The Asolo Theatre Company
941-351-9010 Ext 4800
www.asolo.org
NEA Sends Asolo Actors and Specialists
to MiddletonHigh School for Workshop on Monday
Teachers Attending this Workshop will be the first in Hillsborough County to Benefit from a National Initiative
Sarasota, Florida (March 10, 2005) – On Monday March 14 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., in the Middleton High School Auditorium, teachers representing several schools will be the first in Hillsborough county and among the only teachers in Florida to participate in this program. The grant was first publicized at a press conference last April when Representative Katherine Harris (R-FL) announced that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) selected the Asolo Theatre Company to participate in its signature Shakespeare in American Communities initiative.
The Shakespeare for a New Generation grant enables the Asolo’s already successful Access to the Arts educational program to expand by reaching more students in more communities in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, and taking those programs right into the classroom. It also adds a new component of more in depth follow up for students identified by their teachers as showing particular promise.
The Asolo is the only theatre in Florida and among only 21 in the entire U.S. to receive this prestigious grant. The Shakespeare in American Communities, Shakespeare for a New Generation grant, in addition to Monday’s onsite teacher workshop and actor visit, makes it possible for the Asolo to provide Hillsborough schools with special in-school teacher training, student and teacher study materials, in-school student workshops with participating actors, attendance to a professionally produced Shakespeare play (A Midsummer Night's Dream), and potential special follow up programs.
Please contact Associate Education Director, Carrie Mills at 941-351-9010 Ext. 3320, for information on participation in the special NEA grant or other Asolo Access to the Arts programs. Administrators have given permission for the media to cover the workshop at MiddletonHigh School. Other schools participating include Tampa Bay Tech, LetoHigh School, MiddletonHigh School and Braulio Alonso.
The Asolo Theatre Company is a professional year-round theatre and was Florida’s first State Theatre. The Asolo performs in a 500 seat historic Mertz theatre located in the FSUCenter for the Performing Arts in Sarasota, Florida. From November through June, the nationally acclaimed acting company performs a series of eight to ten plays in rotating repertory.
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From the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) …
Mrs. Laura Bush and Jack Valenti, former President and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, are co-chairs for the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative.
Mrs. Bush commented, "… I am particularly interested in the educational aspect of Shakespeare in American Communities. Thanks to the Arts Endowment, thousands of children and their families across America will be introduced to the literary and artistic world of Shakespeare."
Shakespeare for a New Generation
From September 2004 through May 2005, 21 professional theater companies will perform in each of their home regions for students from at least 10 middle and high schools, reaching a minimum of 220 schools.
The participating companies are:
Alaska Theatre of Youth, Eccentric Theatre Company & Edgware (Anchorage, AK)
American Players Theatre (Spring Green, WI)
Asolo Theatre, Inc. (Sarasota, FL)
Atlanta Shakespeare Company (Atlanta, GA)
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (Cincinnati, OH)
Hartford Stage Company (Hartford, CT)
Idaho Shakespeare Festival (Boise, ID)
Indiana Repertory Theatre, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN)
Montana Shakespeare in the Parks (Bozeman, MT)
Perseverance Theatre (Douglas, AK)
San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego, CA)
Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA)
Shakespeare Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, CA)
The People's Light & Theatre Company (Malvern, PA)
The Shakespeare Festival at Tulane (New Orleans, LA
The Shakespeare Theatre (Washington, DC)
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (Madison, NJ)
The Theater at Monmouth (Monmouth, ME)
Utah Shakespearean Festival (Cedar City, UT)
Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum (Topanga, CA)
Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven, CT)
Additional Educational Components
- Educational outreach is an integral component of the initiative.
- The National Endowment for the Arts has produced 25,000 multimedia educational resource kits for teachers that feature: a teacher's manual including lesson plans, recitation contest guide, Fun with Shakespeare brochure with word games and trivia, timeline poster, audio CD, and two educational videos. These kits are available free-of charge and can be ordered from www.shakespeareinamericancommunities.org.
- The audio CD features interviews and recitations by James Earl Jones, Michael York, and Jane Alexander among other noted actors.
- Shakespearean actors Wallace Acton and Noel True host a 25-minute video, Shakespeare in Our Time, that explores the Bard, his work and his times with clips from many films based on his plays
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
TEACHER’S WORKSHOP
AGENDA
5:00 – Welcome and Introductions – Carrie Mills, Asolo Education Department
5:15 – Discussion with Actors – Melissa Teitel, Ross Kidder, and Terry Small
6:00 – Dramaturgy Presentation – Katie Jones
6:45 – Technical Elements – Carrie Mills and Katie Jones
7:00 – Review Teacher packet – Carrie Mills
7:15 – Procedures for the student matinees – Carrie Mills and Katie Jones
7:30 – Shakespeare for a New Generation grant details – Carrie Mills
Distribution of materials
Details of student workshops
7:50 – Workshop evaluation