EDUCATION
AT ATC
“This was truly an amazing experience that I am
going to hold onto forever! I was able to see shows that I
never thought I would be able to see, meet people I would
never have met in my entire life and see many different venues
of performances that were all different but still amazing.
Taking part in the Wasserstein Project was one of the best
things that has ever happened to me and I wish I could repay
ATC with more than just words, but all I can say is thank
you from the bottom of my heart for making a dream come true.”
-Caleb T. Willow
Wasserstein 2005 - Phoenix
Arizona Theatre Company is always looking for new ways to
expand the young and impressionable mind. Its programming
for youth reaches out to audiences state-wide to connect students
with the adventure of theatre. ATC’s Wasserstein Project
brings the excitement of live performance to twenty high-school
students each year – students who may have never seen
a live show before. These performances are not just of theatre,
but include music, dance and performance art. As seen in the
journals the students keep, these young lives are touched
forever by the enchantment of live entertainment. ATC hopes
that they will continue this new-found fondness for the rest
of their lives.
The Wasserstein Project takes high school students to see
a variety of professional performing arts events in Phoenix
and Tucson. Over the past six years, 125 students who had
never experienced professional theatre before have seen a
total of seventy-six performances. The project is named after
playwright Wendy Wasserstein whose Open Doors program conducts
a similar program in New York City. In keeping with Ms. Wasserstein’s
original model, many of the students chosen have not had any
previous access to professional theatre and are not aspiring
to be artists. The students are a true representation of our
community, with a diversity of cultures and gender.
This season, The Wasserstein Project will bring the joy of
performing arts to more students than ever. Due to generous
support from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and the
Scottsdale League for the Arts, sixty students from the Phoenix
metropolitan area as well as ten students from Tucson will
be afforded the opportunity to see fourteen performing arts
events. The schedule of shows varies from opera to fresh Broadway
productions and from flamenco dancing to classic theater.
After attending each performance, the students meet with the
education manager Sara Bernstein and education director Samantha
Wyer. In addition, numerous guest artists from various ATC
productions will lead active discussions. The students also
participate in exhilarating backstage tours of the Arizona
Theatre Company’s stages. While engaging in lively conversation
and debate (in a comfortable environment that allows for the
students to express their thoughts and opinions) each student
brought a new idea and energy to the discussion and their
insights into each show were truthful and honest.
Arizona Theatre Company hopes to provide these students a
chance to experience a new adventure, one that these students
will continue exploring throughout their lives, bringing a
lifetime of theatrical joy. ATC is proud to work with community
partners Scottsdale Center for the Arts and The Arizona Opera
who donated free or reduced-price tickets. Due to these generous
community members, The Wasserstein Project is able, and will
continue to be able, to enrich young lives.
I wish to congratulate our group on the miraculous strides
we have all taken to find a better appreciation of theater
and art. Each dinner that we spend together is a constant
and consistent accumulation of ideas, perceptions, realizations,
and amusements."
- Breanne Bushu
Wasserstein 2003 - Phoenix
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