Shore Country Day a Home for Summer Workshops, Performances

Shore Country Day School's Center for Creativity in Beverly is the summer home of Boston Children's Theatre (BCT) workshops and stage productions.

The state-of-the-art Center is bustling all season as young performers, instructors, technicians, and well-known guest actors and actresses take over the Trustey Family Theatre, drama classrooms, art studios, and music rooms for numerous workshops, rehearsals, and master classes.

"Boston Children’s Theatre is thrilled to collaborate with Shore Country Day School again this summer," said Burgess Clark, BCT's Executive Artistic Director. "The facilities are ideal for our workshops, performances, and master classes with such Broadway professionals as Danielle Ferland, Ashley Park and Andy Mientus."

In early July, actress Danielle Ferland was warmly welcomed at BCT’s summer residence. Ferland played Little Red Riding Hood in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, and she offered costume secrets to the kids as they prepared to put on Into the Woods Jr. Ferland will be back to direct a BCT production of Cabaret later this summer.

"Our students are thriving in this creative environment!" enthused Clark. "It’s wonderful to see our productions come to life in the state-of-art theater and to watch our students in rehearsals for dance, voice and acting in the various classrooms. Shore has certainly become the perfect home for our Summer Studios."

Tickets are now on sale for all of the BCT's summer productions at Shore: Into the Woods Jr., Cabaret, and The Drowsy Chaperone.

Summer Studios at Shore

Serving children ages 4–19, BCT's summer Studio programs offer high-quality training in acting, singing, and dancing for the stage. Week-long Discovery and Studio 1 sessions for the youngest participants focus on a theme and use books, crafts, and theatre games to spark imagination, character creation, expression, and individuality.

Studio 2 gives elementary-age children a chance to improve their knowledge of theatre while putting together a workshop production of a 30-minute musical.

Studio 3 is an intensive, pre-professional training program for students ages 9–14 who are interested in pursuing a profession in musical theatre. This four-week program includes daily classes in acting, dance, and musical theatre led by experienced educators. In addition, participants take part in rehearsals for fully staged musical productions, culminating in final performances. This year’s Studio Three show is Into the Woods Jr.

Studio 4 offers pre-professional training for students ages 14–19 who plan on pursuing a profession in musical theatre. It includes daily classes in acting, dance, and musical theatre led by experienced educators, master classes by professional Broadway actors, and rehearsals for fully staged musical productions, culminating in final performances. This year's shows are Kander and Ebb's Cabaret and The Drowsy Chaperone.

An additional workshop, Behind the Scenes, is the only youth theatre program in the region where students can gain professional, specialized instruction in lighting, costumes, sound, scenery, props, and stage management.

Into the Woods Jr.
In Into the Woods Jr., Stephen Sondheim’s and James Lapine’s cockeyed fairytale comes to life in an adaptation of their groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical. Shows are July 21 at 7:30pm, July 22 at 8pm, July 23 at 2pm and 8pm, and July 24 at 2pm and 7pm.

With a cast of 51 talented young performers ranging in age from 9 and 14, Into the Woods Jr., features everyone’s favorite fairy tale characters, including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, Jack and his beanstalk, and of course, the Witch. Based on the classic Brothers Grimm fables, the musical is a story about wishing, wanting, and the choices we all make on our journey. It is directed by Mary Guaraldi, with choreography by Alexandra Berube and musical direction by Chris Cho.

Cabaret
Directed by Broadway’s Danielle Ferland, the classic Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret features students from BCT’s pre-professional training program. Shows are August 4 at 7:30pm, August 6 at 8pm, and August 7 at 2pm.

The Drowsy Chaperone
Directed by BCT Executive Artistic Director Burgess Clark and featuring BCT’s talented Studio 4 students, The Drowsy Chaperone is bubbling over with wit, thrills and glorious song and dance. Shows are August 5 at 8pm, August 6 at 2pm, and August 7 at 7pm.