CSJ Annual Meeting

Mat’s Café, 212 S. Mechanic St., Jackson, MI 49201 will be open on Wednesday evening, August 16th exclusively for members and friends of Center Stage Jackson. Great sandwiches and salads are the specialty of the house, so come join us at 6:00 pm for a light meal and stay for the meeting at 7:00 p.m. On the agenda will be a preview of the upcoming season, review of the past season and opportunities galore to get involved and keep Center Stage Jackson growing and strong!

Reservations encouraged but not necessary. Call Ann at 768-8173 and spend some time with your theatre friends!

Born Yesterday Auditions Announced

Auditions for the comedy Born Yesterday have been announced. They will be held at the Immanuel Lutheran Church on the corner of West Michigan Avenue and Brown Street in Jackson on Monday, July 31st and Tuesday, August 1st from 6 pm - 9 pm. Mark Hisler is the director. Members will receive more detailed information in the mail.

2006 Retreat

The board of Center Stage Jackson gathered at the Clark Lake Community Center on Saturday, June 24th for their 2006 Retreat. The morning was spent planning for the future and the afternoon dealt with the upcoming season. A productive day was had by all.

Camp Counselors Needed

The Jackson School of the Arts needs a few more counselors to work at the summer arts camp that benefits low income youth.

Camp Counselor Brief Job Description: Young adults ages 17 or older are responsible for a group of 7-8 youth. Counselors stay with youth during the camp and help with arts and camp activities. Applicants should enjoy working with youth ages 9-15 and appreciate the arts. No arts experience necessary. Dates: Training/Orientation on June 17, 9-12:30 PM (lunch included) in Jackson.

Camp: July 8 beginning at 6 PM to 8 PM on July 14 at the Girl Scout Irish Hills Council Camp O’ the Hills in Brooklyn. Room and board free, stipend of $150.00.Please call 784-2389 for an application or go online http://www.jacksonarts.org/.

Contact:
Kim Hastings, Executive Director Jackson School of the Arts phone 517.784.2389
814 Winifred, Ste. 12
Jackson, MI 49202
Making the Arts Accessible to Jackson County Youth.

CSJ Launches Membership Drive

Center Stage Jackson is launching a membership campaign, hoping to round up and retain members to support their productions! Without a solid member base to bring artistic and intellectual diversity to the group, CSJ cannot thrive.

Membership prices are nominal ($20 for an adult membership, $10 for students) and are used to defray the costs of mailings to the group.

Benefits include participating and voting at the annual meeting, invitations to social events, and getting to create the future of community theatre in Jackson!

For more information, do not hesitate to contact lidija, Membership Chair at lidija@fremeau.net.

Membership applications are available to be downloaded at www.centerstagejackson.org.

2006 - 2007 Season

Center Stage Jackson has announced the plays for its next season, just as it wraps up this season with the final weekend of "Oklahoma!"

The schedule hasn't been finished, said board President Ann Holt, but the plays will be: "Born Yesterday," directed by Mark Hisler; "Scrooge the Musical," directed by Holt; "To Kill a Mockingbird," directed by Denise Weber; and "Man of La Mancha." No director has been chosen for that musical.

"Oklahoma!" will begin at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the Baughman Theatre, Jackson Community College, 2111 Emmons Road. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for students. Call 796-8600.

(from the Jackson Citizen Patriot)

Summer Class for Kids at Ella Sharp Museum

Creative Dramatics - Entering 4th to 6th grades
Presented by Kurt Snyder of Center Stage Jackson

Students will be introduced to basic dramatic principles with theater games and exercises to promote expression, creativity, discipline, listening, and communication skills. Creative Dramatics students learn to: work well in groups, listen well, participate, follow directions, use their imaginations, use their voices to communicate clearly, use gestures and body movements, generate new ideas quickly and show enthusiasm for the various activities. Participants will explore the actors' main tools: the voice, body, and imagination. Focus will be on collaboration, improvisation, and ensemble work. The class will culminate in a performance for family and friends.

Monday through Friday, June 19 - 23, 2006.

Members $58, Nonmembers $70 9:30 am to Noon, Multipurpose Room at the Ella Sharp Museum

Contact the museum for more information at 517-787-2320.

Oklahoma! Comes to Michigan!

Center Stage Jackson is pleased to present Rogers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” May 12, 13, 14 and 19, 20, 21 in the Baughman Theatre, Potter Center, Jackson Community College, 2111 Emmons Rd., Jackson. Tickets are available now! For ticket information and reservations, call the JCC Box Office at 517-796-8600. Box Office hours are 10 am until 4:00 pm Monday through Friday and one hour before curtain time.

Show times are 8 P.M., MAY 12, 13, 19, 20; 3 P.M., MAY 14 (Mothers Day!) and 21. Ticket prices are $15/ADULTS; $12/SENIORS; $10/STUDENTS (WITH ID). Group rates are available.

Monte Long is the artistic director.

“Rodgers & Hammerstein's first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative, having set the standards and established the rules of musical theatre still being followed today. Set in a Western Indian territory just after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly (Kurt Frost), a handsome cowboy, and Laurey (Mary Krzesicki), a winsome farm girl, play out their love story. Although the road to true love never runs smooth, with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love's journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road. That they will succeed in making a new life together we have no doubt, and that this new life will begin in a brand-new state provides the ultimate climax to the triumphant OKLAHOMA!” (from the R&H Theatricals website)

OUR TOWN Opens March 24, 2006

Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer-Prize winning play, Our Town, was first produced in 1938. It has become an "American stage treasure" and is his "most renowned and frequently performed play." Set at the turn of the 20th century, the play reveals the ordinary lives of the people in a small town.

Performances begin Friday, March 24 and continue for two weekends ending with a matinee performance on Sunday, April 2. Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8:00 p.m. Sunday matinees are at 3:00 p.m. The show will be presented in the Ruth Day Theatre at Potter Center on the campus of the Jackson Community College.

Tickets are $13 for adults and $10 for seniors and students with i.d. Reservations can be made through the JCC box office at (517) 796-8600.