Theater Company for Teens to Stage Xanadu

A teacher is bringing her theater company to Paramus for the first time this summer.

Michele Sarnoski, an English teacher who at the school, is co-director of Teen Drama, a high school theater education company for 13- to 18-year-olds.

She and co-director Joe Ferriero, who was the musical director of the high school's production of Bye Bye Birdie, founded Teen Drama in Kearny last year after parents complained to them that there weren't any cost-effective summer theater programs for high school students. This summer is the company's first Paramus production.

Here too, Teen Drama is filling a need. The Paramus Community School, which is sponsoring the company, has theater programs, but not at the high school level.

This summer's production is Xanadu, a Broadway adaptation of the 1980 film starring Oliva Newton-John. Unlike the film, the stage production was a success, earning four Tony Awards.

"People don't realize that it was as successful as it was," Sarnoski said.

Sarnoski said Teen Drama will be the first amateur group in the state to stage a production of Xanadu. She and Ferriero picked the musical because of its brevity and its ensemble cast, which allows the company to prepare for a performance in six weeks and gives each cast member a chance to shine.

For the $375 registration fee, the students work three to four hours a day for four days a week for six weeks. Each student gets one-on-one vocal training.

"It really, truly is cost-effective," Sarnoski said.

Xanadu will be staged at . The program starts Monday.

The Paramus production has about 13 students registered so far, but Teen Drama will take applications until Monday. Applications and additional information may be obtained by calling Teen Drama at (973) 498-8336, emailing info@teendrama.org or may be downloaded at teendrama.org.