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| Lynne Johnson, Donna Glick, and Meg Campbell |
Contributed by Donna Glick
On behalf of Associate Director of Education, Lynne Johnson and Education Manager, Meg Wieder, I'm writing with a special invitation to the 5th Codman Academy Shakespeare summer production. We are presenting Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew on Wednesday and Thursday, August 4th and 5th at 7:00 in the Wimberly Theatre (Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont St Boston MA). We're very excited about this year's production.
In previous years, Lynne has worked her magic to set the plays in modern day, but to celebrate the 5th year of the program, we decided to go for period costumes and set. We are also performing on two nights because of the community support that turns out for Codman productions. If we perform one night in Studio 210, to maximize space, we have little ones sitting on the floor, and still lots of standing-room-only. Also, we wanted the students to have an opportunity to learn from one performance, integrating their notes into their performances on the second night. Lynne is serving as the director and Meg is wearing a few hats as stage manager, choreographer and producer. They are doing a fantastic job.
The cast and crew are currently working in the Wimberly on tech rehearsals. I want to thank everyone who has taken a part to make this the best summer Codman production so far. Thanks especially to Dan Ramirez, Todd Williams, Nancy Brennan, Bethany Ford, Brian Sears, Jesse Caldwell Washburn, Milosz Gassan, Amy Mattulina, Sarah Spollett, Meredith Mastroianni, Kathleen Merriam, Rebecca Curtiss, Mary O'Donnell, Meg White, Barbara Crowther (Costumer), Kris Holmes, Mary Lauve, Virginia Emerson, Sondra Katz, and Joel Turnham (lighting design). And I'm going to include a shout-out to pavilion folks who will be supporting us a great deal next week. Kat Alix, Katie Most, Sarah Williams, Mark Slavin, and Joey Riddle.
The performance is a 90 minute version of the full play, free and open to the public. We hope that many of you will have a chance to attend. And, we're so excited to have high performing air-conditioning this year! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Sincerely,
Donna Glick
Addendum (from Todd):
The Huntington-Codman Summer Theatre Institute is a four-week program for Codman students and alumni that provides participants the opportunity to explore Shakespearean text and the theatrical production process in depth, with daily rehearsals, improvisational games, and theater exercises. This program is supported by My Summer in the City, a Boston Foundation Funding Initiative.
The Huntington's partnership with Codman Academy (Meg Campbell, Executive Director), celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, is the showcase of the theatre's acclaimed and wide-reaching youth, education, and community initiatives. Since 2001, the Huntington and Codman have collaborated to create an innovative, interdisciplinary Humanities program that has been recognized both locally and nationally as a model for improving urban students' reading, speaking, writing, and presentation skills. The partnership was awarded the Commonwealth Award, the state's highest award in arts and culture given by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Codman Academy is the only public school to receive this recognition.
Read more at BroadwayWorld.com
1 comment:
Dear Education Department Team,
I want to thank you for the fabulous performance of Taming of the Shrew last evening at the Calderwood. Lynne, Meg and Donna you deserve accolades for this production and the effort you clearly put in to bring this to the stage. Our Education Department does splendid work - and thanks to your inspiration and sweat so did the Codman cast! It's clear that the kids had worked hard and were committed to this piece - and had a good time doing it.
Sometimes I love my job just a little more and last night was one of those occasions. Of course, I was proud of the performance. But also after the performance, I had the chance to speak with the family that sat in front of me in the Wimberly. Dad and his two younger kids (a 6th grader and a 5th grader) were there to see an older daughter perform the role of Sugarsop. When I asked the kids if this was the first time they had seen a play by Wm . Shakespeare all three family members responded an emphatic "yes." The dad, Mike, went on to tell me that this was the first play he had ever been to! How about that! His first-ever play, it's William Shakespeare, and his adorable daughter, Nia, was in it - and did a great job! Wowser.
Derek's performance of Hortensio will be forever etched in my brain... and I expect Derek's as well! Here's a 9th grader who did a stellar job in this role. Wowser wowser.
Congrats to all involved in this production! (And to any who may have missed last night's performance, if you have the chance to catch tonight's show, don't miss it!)
Meg White -
Director of Major Gifts, Huntington Theatre Company
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