GENERAL - FOR PARENTS
Who is YYT? YYT is a corps of volunteers committed to providing theater experience to children in the Ypsilanti area. YYT was founded in 2005 as a community outreach of St. Luke's Episcopal Church by O'Bryan Worley and Leslie Cypert, who are no longer active in the company but to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.
What age are the actors? We are looking for young actors ages 8-18.
What kind of time commitment will we be asked to make? From audition to performance, a production generally takes 10-12 weeks. (We try to compress the summer rehearsal schedule, so that there's less of a time commitment.) Given this short duration we need commitment from all participants to stage a successful production.
What will it cost for my child to participate? Our participation fee (per show) is currently $40 per child plus $25 for each additional child in the family, payable no later than the end of the first week of rehearsal. This fee covers the cost of the theater experience, a t-shirt and, the cast party. Some shows may have higher participation fees.
Additional costs. We ask parents/actors to shop for costume parts and pieces. A list of requirements will be provided, and you'll be asked to visit local thrift shops for the required pieces. This should result in minimal cost, typically between $10 and $15 total. Your resale shopping assignment will be explained early in the rehearsal schedule. If you are not able to turn your child's costume in to the costume department by the deadline, you will be charged $30 and the costume department will purchase the costume for you. Costumes may sometimes be taken home by actors after the show, but are sometimes kept by YYT. This will be at the discretion of the costume department.
You will also have an opportunity to purchase a DVD of the performance (professionally recorded and edited). DVDs usually cost $30, and purchase is NOT required. Parents will be unable to videotape performances, due to the nature of our contract with Video Farm Productions, but are invited to tape the dress rehearsal if they would like a record of the show and choose not to purchase one through Video Farm. Are scholarships available? Scholarships are awarded by the Board in honor of Ronny and Alex Cypert who passed away — much too early — in 2009. Scholarships are available for any child whose family is unable to pay the fee. Scholarships may be awarded in the amount of $20 for the first child and $10 for each additional child in the family, or may cover the entire participation fee, depending on the need of the family. Is the fee refundable? Fees are not refundable. If you have specific questions, please feel free to email them to: ypsiyouththeatre@gmail.com
AUDITIONS - FOR ACTORS
Who can audition? While it may occasionally vary according to production, all YYT actors are between the ages of 8 and 18 (high school seniors who are 19 are ok too).
Do I need experience? No previous experience is necessary to audition for YYT.
Do I need to prepare a monologue? If possible, prepare something ahead of time. Find a speech, poem, song, anything you like, only 30 seconds long! (Don’t bring in something long to do.) Memorize it, practice it over and over, OUT LOUD so your mouth can chomp-out those words. Try some silly “actor stuff”—pretend it’s an English duke, French maid, Spanish bullfighter, or ANY accent! Have fun, be goofy, make it funny, make it loud!
We’ll also have little speeches to read from the show, maybe a song, and some improvisation. The speeches are short, and you can read them over before trying one out loud. A song might be in groups of 3, just for fun. Improvisation? We'd give you an idea, and you can make something up! Dress loose for movement, wear “play shoes,” plan on spending the whole two hours.
Do I need to sign up to audition? No, but we ask that you be on time for auditions and be prepared to stay for the full two hours. Please let your parents/guardians know that we MAY finish early on audition evenings.
Does everyone get cast? It depends on the show we are doing, but our philosophy, in general, is to give every child a role. (Some may be behind the scenes, but we want every child—who WANTS to be involved—to be involved!)
REHEARSALS
What happens at a regular rehearsal? The typical rehearsal agenda will generally follow this pattern:
SCHEDULED WORK · 6:00-8:00 p.m.
It goes like this: First there are warm-ups and then specified acts/scenes are read through. There will also be practice moving, singing, acting. Actors will also be expected to "Run lines" and repeat by memory in small groups.
There will also be costume fittings and discussions about props and scenery, especially as we get closer to the production.
As an actor, do I have to be at every rehearsal? During auditions (or during the first week of rehearsal) we will distribute a calendar which will tell you when you need to be in attendance. We work hard to schedule around actors' other commitments, so attending all rehearsals for which YOU are scheduled is important. If we find it necessary to revise the rehearsal schedule, we will distribute copies of the new schedule via email, and it will also be posted on this website.
Because we work hard at rehearsals and count on all the participants to attend, two unexcused absences may result in dismissal from the production.
As a parent/guardian, how many rehearsals do I need to attend? We ask that each family provide a parent to serve as a rehearsal monitor for at least three rehearsals. Having that many extra adults means that our young actors have adult supervision at all times. One important role of a rehearsal monitor is keeping the "nonworking" actors quiet so that Mr. Rob can accomplish more with the "working" actors.
Feel free to bring your non-participating children (as long as they will not disrupt the rehearsal).
We'll also have lots of costume fittings, prop-building/painting to do, and we can use your help with those. More information will be provided as we move toward the performance.
Feel free to attend more rehearsals if you like. It will give you a good sense of what your child is doing and will be extremely helpful to YYT organizers!
TECH
Can I do tech if I don't want to act in the production? Absolutely! Technical work can be very difficult, so our requirements for tech are ages 14-21. We encourage anyone interested to contact us via e-mail (ypsiyouththeatre@gmail.com), or attend an audition to fill out a form.
|
|