Ashtabula Arts Center News

Hi kids! Learn all about the theatre and take part in our spring production!
This class will teach what you need to know about becoming an actor. Each child receives a role and must be able to attend all rehearsals and be present at all performances. The class will culminate in a main stage show "Disney’s Aladdin Kids" on March 9th, 10th (2 shows), and 11th.
The Children’s Theater Production Class is for ages 17 and under. Classes/Rehearsals will be held Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. plus “tech week” rehearsals daily on March 4 - 8. Eight weeks of classes/rehearsals will begin Monday, January 16th.

“Auditions” will be held for this class on Monday January 9th and Wednesday January 11th from 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm. Auditioners should come to one audition of their choice, prepared with a 30 second song to sing, along with a poem or monologue. (All children who enroll will participate in the production. Auditions are held to allow children to experience the whole process of participating in a theatrical production and gives the director an idea of your child's level of ability at the beginning of the class).
$65 session fee/$59.50 member rate Register today! (440) 964-3396

Acting Workshop with James Stover
January 7, 2012
10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
$15 workshop fee/$13.50 member rate
Preregistration required (440) 964-3396

Learn from a professional in the theater business! This workshop will consist of some acting warm-up/ensemble building exercises, then a Q&A session about working in professional theater, a mock cold-reading audition (where everyone takes a turn cold reading with the instructor, while being directed) finishing with everyone being coached on a prepared monologue. This is a great workshop to prepare you for future auditions. Materials needed: Please bring a prepared monologue to be coached.
James Stover is a native of Ashtabula and currently lives and works in Philadelphia. He's recently directed the world premiere of Hazardous for Philadelphia Theatre Workshop and the Philadelphia premiere of The Amish Project for The Renegade Company. He's worked as assistant director for Broadway's 24-Hour Plays (Tony Nominee Thomas Kail, director), Off-Broadway's The Temperamentals (Drama Desk Nominee Jonathan Silverstein, director) and the new musical Like You Like It (Drama Desk Nominee Igor Goldin, director). A proud member of Actor's Equity (the union of professional actors), he's performed at regional theaters in ten different states as well as in the new musical Yank! (starring Tony Nominee Bobby Steggert), the National Tour of My Soul is a Witness and the Off-Broadway Revival of Tea and Sympathy. He's made a guest appearance on Law & Order and appeared in six independent feature films.

It's a merry time on this cozy Christmas Eve at the home of the Stahlbaum family. Wreaths and mistletoe and pine garlands tied with fancy red ribbons decorate the house.

As snow falls gently outside the frosty paned windows, cookies, pies and sweet breads fill the air with the delicious sweet scents of sugary apples, pumpkin and cinnamon. Like children all around the world on this very special evening, Fritz’ and Clara’s heads are swimming with visions of sugarplums and Christmas surprises!

As guests arrive for the family's annual Christmas party, music plays, dancing begins and the children happily scurry around the tall tree sparkling with shiny glass balls and tinsel. Oh! It’s a Christmas Eve they’ll long remember! Before long, a knock is heard at the door. The fantastic Herr Drosselmeyer sweeps into the room, to the delight of all the children who know his pockets will be filled with magic!

Herr Drosselmeyer entertains the crowd with his tricks and tales and presents the children with treats and toys. To Clara he gives the most special gift of all--a charming Nutcracker doll. But as little boys sometimes do, Fritz becomes jealous and in a pouting tantrum, he breaks the doll and brings Clara to tears. Herr Drosselmeyer, however, is a magic man. With a wave of his magic handkerchief he fixes the broken toy and brings a smile back to little Clara's face. At the end of the evening, party guests bundle in wool coats and knit caps and make their way home through the chilly night air. With cakes and cookies packed away in the cupboard and nothing but bits of paper and holiday ribbon left strewn across the floor, the family snores softly in their beds.

All the family, that is, except Clara. Unable to stop thinking of her favorite new toy, the little girl slips quietly back to the living room where, with drooping eyelids, Clara lies down under the beautiful tree and clasps her Nutcracker doll tightly in her arms.

As the tall clock strikes midnight, Clara is startled awake and discovers that the family's beautiful tree is growing! And growing! And growing! The tree grows to a gigantic size! Up, up, up! And then, right before her eyes, the Nutcracker doll and Fritz's toy soldiers come to life and they begin to grow too! Out of nowhere, an army of furry, larger-than-life mice, led by an evil Mouse Queen, scurry into the room! In an effort to protect Clara, the Nutcracker and his soldiers engage the mice in a fierce battle! Swords clang and cannons fire! Kaboom!

Everything happens so quickly! Clara is afraid that the Nutcracker might be hurt! In a desperate attempt to save him from defeat, she reaches for the first thing she can find and throws her slipper at the evil Mouse Queen, giving the Nutcracker the chance to recover and defeat the evil rodent once and for all!But then, more magic happens! As the furry mice flee with their leader's lifeless body, Clara's Nutcracker transforms into a handsome prince! Taking her by the hand, he leads her to a beautiful sleigh and the two of them embark on a midnight journey beneath the starry, moonlit sky. Into the Enchanted Kingdom they go, where snowflakes come to life and dance in the gentle breezes of the Snowy Pine Forest. Their next stop is the Land of Sweets where candy striped flowers grow atop whipped cream mountains whiter than snow! Clara and her prince are greeted by the Sugarplum Fairy who rules over this magical land. As they tell their adventurous story, the Sugarplum Fairy is so impressed with their bravery and heroism that she throws a lavish festival in their honor.

Clara and the Prince are treated like royalty and showered with gifts of sweets. Delightful dances begin to the lively music of the Spanish fandango. Dancers move their bodies like rising steam to an Arabian song and Matroishkas dance to an invigorating Russian Trepak. When the amazing Mother Ginger whirls onto the floor, little bon bons dance out from beneath her skirt! These are the most beautiful dances Clara has ever seen. She and the Nutcracker Prince watch with amazement as a handsome Cavalier enters the scene and escorts the Sugarplum Fairy to the center of the room. There, the captivating pair dance the most beautiful dance of all.

And then, Clara's most perfect evening must come to an end...