Registration is now open for Winter Programs at Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater located at 128 Washington Street in Middletown! Beginning January 6, weekly classes in theater, dance, circus, and visual arts will be offered for toddlers to 20 year olds.
Photo by Dic Wheeler of 2024 Mini-Production "The Grinch that Stole Christmas".
Young actors ages 12 - 14 are welcome to join the Junior Repertory Company December 16 or 19 for auditions for Coraline. Students may audition 4:30 - 6 pm on either day. Rehearsals begin January 6 and will be Mondays and Thursdays, 4:30 - 6:30 pm, with performances March 14 - 17. Everyone who auditions and commits to the rehearsal and performance schedule will be cast in this original production of the powerful literary classic. Register for one of the two auditions at https://forms.gle/yMDwXCqYHYnBScSZ8
Saturday Classes with Meg Berritta begin on January 11 and serve children from 15 months to eight years old. Classes include Acrobabies (ages 15 months - 3 years with caregiver; 9:15 - 9:55 am); Circrobatics (ages 3 - 6, 10 - 10:45 am), Faerie Tale Theater (ages 3 - 6, 10:55 - 11:40 am) and Circobatics (ages 5 - 8, 11:45 am - 12:30 pm)
The Teen Repertory Company at Oddfellows provides training and performance opportunities for young people ages 14 -20. This winter teens may sign up for The Actor’s Laboratory, a six-week in-depth exploration of acting and performance with ARTFARM Artistic Director Marcella Trowbridge. The Actor’s Lab provides a safe place for exploration and discovery without the pressure of performance, including Intermodal Expressive Arts, Stage Combat, Voice, Movement, High Stakes Acting and Psycho-Emotional Literacy. The class meets Thursdays, 6:30 - 8:30 pm from January 9 through February 13. Teen actors may also sign up to perform in the New Plays Festival on Saturday, February 15.
Auditions for the Spring Teen Rep mainstage production will be March 3 and 6.
After-School classes for ages 6 - 14 begin January 6 and will run for eight weeks this winter, culminating in a “Share Week” March 3 - 6. Most classes run 4:50 -5:50 pm.
Stage One classes for ages 6 - 8 include Complete Actor I on Mondays, Crazy Crafts on Tuesdays, Circus I on Wednesdays and Comedy and Tragedy on Thursdays.
Stage Two classes for ages 9 - 11 include Fusion Dance on Mondays, Intro to Improv Comedy (for ages 9 - 14) on Wednesdays, and a special Circus-Theater Mini-production, which will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:50 - 5:50 pm, culminating in public performances of an original Circus-Theater show on March 18 and 20.
Stage Three, for ages 12 - 14, includes the Junior Rep Mainstage production of Coraline, for which students must audition on either December 16 or 19. If you are seeing this after these dates, please contact the Playhouse at (860) 347-6143 to see if there is still an opportunity to join. Rehearsals will start January 6 and performances are March 13 -15. Stage Three students may also enroll in the Intro to Improv Comedy class (for ages 9 - 14) which meets on Wednesdays, 4:50 - 5:50 pm.
Middletown Public School students may complement their class experience with Oddbridge, an extended day program which provides transport from Middletown schools to the Playhouse, a snack, and supervised arts activities, games and homework help before classes start. Oddbridge extends throughout the school year, providing special programs and field trips on early dismissal days or days when regular Oddfellows’ classes are not in session.
For more details on times, tuition and class descriptions, please go to www.oddfellows.org. If you have specific questions, email info@oddfellows.org or call (860) 347-6143. Financial Aid is available for all programs. It is Playhouse policy that the arts should be available to every young person regardless of ability to pay - no one is turned away for lack of funds.
Oddfellows Playhouse, founded in 1975, is Connecticut’s oldest and largest performing arts program for young people. Oddfellows programs are made possible with support from the Middletown Commission on the Arts; Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD; City of Middletown; The Fund for Greater Hartford; American Savings Foundation; State of Connecticut Judicial Branch (Youth Violence Prevention); Middletown Youth Services Bureau; Community Foundation of Middlesex County; Liberty Bank Foundation; Middletown Health Department; Middlesex United Way; CHEFA Nonprofit Grant; and many generous individual donors.
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