2018-2019 A Year in Review

The Theatre Arts program at County Prep HS has had an incredibly busy yet rewarding year. The students undergo a rigorous and rewarding program based on the professional model, and focus on classics, world theatre, modern plays, musicals and improvisations. Our productions and classes offer students the opportunity to develop individual interests while gaining invaluable practical experience in acting, musical theatre and stagecraft. The students start by learning both important aspects of the history of theatre and basic acting skills and are first assigned classical monologues, and scenes. They take part in auditions for our main productions; they participate in field trips to Brooklyn Academy of Music, Manhattan Theatre Club, or the Roundabout Theatre and take workshops with various professional directors. They also participate in competitions such as the Teen Arts competition at NJCU, the Papermill Playhouse Musical competition, and the Montclair State Theatre Night Foxy Awards.

Performances:

  • HCST Gala and Fundraiser- - the students presented a short selection of scenes, and songs from our musical Brooklyn, The Musical
  • The Christmas Show- the students presented a short selection of scenes, and songs from our musical Brooklyn, the Musical as well as a skit entitled Holidays Travel, written and performed by the members of the Improv show
  • Brooklyn, the Musical, our school Musical
  • Our Fifth Annual Improv Show and Fundraiser, hosted by Junior Yvelisse Vargas, a hilarious Improv competition and fundraiser for the Theatre Program
  • Paradise Hotel, by Georges Feydeau- our Mainstage production

Field trips, Workshops and Competitions:

  • The Roundabout Theatre on Broadway: True West, by Sam Shephard.
  • Manhattan Theatre Club: The Nap, by Richard Bean; workshops with guest artist Nilaja Sun and other professional actors.
  • Theatre Day; workshops with Theatre Professionals organized by the Teen Arts Alliance at Hoboken High School.
  • New Victory Theatre : Theatre Re’s production of The Nature of Forgetting.
  • Sound Painting Workshop with Leese Walker, Artistic, Producing Director and Founder of Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble.
  • Teen Arts Competition, where the Cast of Brooklyn, the Musical received the Judge’s Award (Large Group Musical) for their fifteen minute excerpt of the show , and Kayla Velazquez received the Judge’s Award for her rendition of the song Raven, from the same musical.

The Montclair State Foxy Awards Competition, where last year’s play Bodas de Sangre was nominated for five Foxy awards, for Outstanding Production of a Drama, Outstanding Achievement for an Acting Ensemble, Outstanding Achievement in Live or Original Music, Outstanding Achievement in Choreography/ Movement and Outstanding Achievement in Stage Combat.

We are very proud to announce that some of our seniors will continue their theatre education after leaving County Prep. Sirena Morales, Faith RIscoe and Ivory Love Torres will pursue their theatre studies at Rutgers- New Brunswick, Montclair State University and Marymount College, respectively.
Also, five Paradise Hotel performers were awarded $10,000 scholarships to the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts, should they decide to pick this prestigious institution for college.

Congratulations to all!