Talented Teens of the Performing Arts Intensive

Every summer, Central City Opera, in partnership with the Colorado Springs Conservatory, hosts 18 to 20 talented teens during our Performing Arts Intensive. This is the tenth anniversary of the program; as the Production/Stage Manager for CCO's Education & Community Engagement, I have had the privilege of working with these amazing students for eight of those years.

We are about a week and a half into this two-week intensive. Tuesday night in Colorado Springs we invited an audience to preview the work these students have completed. The first act is a scenes program, entitled Now You Know, combining moments from opera, musical and classic theatre. In one touching scene, the students perform a section of Thornton Wilder's play Our Town (pictured below). Later this week, they'll see the operatic version of this story in the Central City Opera House.

In addition to numerous vocal and movement classes and rehearsal of the scenes program, the last week and half has also been filled with research and composition of their own original opera. Inner Lights: Meditations on the Palmers of Colorado Springs is an original short opera based on the life of an early Colorado Springs couple. The premiere staged reading of this piece was also part of Tuesday's night performance.

One of the reasons that the Palmers were chosen as an inspiration for the opera was because of their many important contributions to Colorado. In addition to founding Colorado Springs, General Palmer was critical to the development of the narrow gauge railroad in Colorado. Wednesday, we took a field trip on the Georgetown Loop Railroad for a first-hand experience.

That evening the students settled into Central City, where they become junior members of the 2013 Festival Company. To greet them, artists from on stage and off gathered for an informal "meet and greet" and sandwich supper.  

Marc Astafan, pictured above, discussed everything from the audition process for our Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program to directing The Barber of Seville.

Several of the prinicipal artists, including Curt Olds (Frank, Show Boat) and Daniel Belcher (Figaro, The Barber of Seville) pictured above, answered questions about living and working in the business. Many of today's stars began their careers in CCO's young artist program.

The teens will continue their residency in Central City for the rest of this week. In addition to continuing to rehearse their scenes program and original opera, they are attending all of the operas performing in Central City, observing some of the Apprentice Artists' classes and having their own private master classes with members of the CCO Festival staff. Vocal and diction master classes will focus on their own material, while in movement and stage combat classes they'll learn some of the same moves and sequences used in the 2013 Festival productions. 

Public performances of the Performing Arts Intensive are held in the intimate Williams Stables Theatre this Friday at 4 pm and Saturday at 7 pm. Tickets are just $5. To purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 303-292-6700 or visit www.centralcityopera.org/intensive. 

The Talented Teens of the Summer Performing Arts Intensive

This week is one of my favorite times of the entire year. As production/stage manager of Central City Opera's Education & Community Programs, I get to witness some pretty transformative experiences as young students enjoy their first exposure to classical music. But probably the most touching, powerful and uplifting moments for me happen during our Summer Performing Arts Intensive. For two weeks, in a collaboration with Linda Weise and our friends at the Colorado Springs Conservatory, we bring together approximately 20 teenagers for an amazing experience.

The students met just shy of two weeks ago and spent the first week and a half of their Intensive in residency in Colorado Springs. In addition to classes in acting, movement and more, they work with composer Roger Ames (who taught our Build an Opera educators' professional development class the week before) and librettist Jeff Gilden to create an original opera. This year's opera is inspired by a Waldo Canyon Fire survivor, asking the question, "If you had to pick your most prized possessions to fill just one box, what would you pick?"

The preview of their original opera "Re-Collections" was presented Tuesday night in Colorado Springs.

After roughly ten days in the Springs, the students arrive in Central City. They enjoy all three mainstage operas of the 2012 Festival as well as Lunch & A Song and Short Works, and they also become fully-immersed company members of the Central City Opera. While continuing to rehearse their scenes program and original opera, these talented teens not only observe classes of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program, but also participate in numerous private masterclasses with CCO staff.

Movement Coach Melinda Sullivan leads them in the "Farmer & The Cowman" dance from Oklahoma!

Andy Moss shows the intricacies of unarmed stage combat to the Intensive students.

Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program Administrator Marc Astafan coaches a section of the students' original opera.

Principal Coach Michael Baitzer gives some advice on diction and vocal production.

Music Director John Baril works one-on-one with Chloe on her aria.

The two-week program culminates with two public performances of the students' scenes program "Salt of the Earth" and their original opera "Re-collections," this Friday (today) and Saturday at 4pm in the Foundry. Tickets are just $5 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 303-292-6700. Check it out - you'll be amazed!

Amazing Original Work by the Stars of Tomorrow

What happens when you put 17 teenagers together for a week and a half of long hours, intense classes in drama, movement, voice, and then throw in some history and let them be creative? A GREAT scenes program, including an original opera they wrote themselves!

Wednesday evening, patrons in Colorado Springs saw the premiere of Penrose: A Colorado Legacy and Other Tales of Love. This evening of opera, theatre scenes by Sam Shephard and a few musical theatre pieces, is the culmination of 11 days of hard work by the talented teenagers of our Summer Performing Arts Intensive. This is the 9th year that Central City Opera has collaborated with the Colorado Springs Conservatory, and as the Education & Community Programs Department Stage Manager, I've been privileged to be a part of this awesome experience for six of those years.

For the first week and a half, the students live in residence in Colorado Springs with instructors assisting them in all aspects of performance. They also spend time researching a topic; this year focuses on Colorado philanthropists Julie and Spencer Penrose. The students researched the couples' lives, visiting the Pioneer Museum, El Pomar, the Carriage Museum and the Shrine of the Sun, and even met a friend of Julie's for some insider anecdotes. With the help of composer Roger Ames and librettist Jeff Gilden, the teenagers combined all they've learned, took liberties with their own new characters and a bit of the chronology, ultimately creating an opera that we believe Julie and Spencer would agree honors the spirit of their lives and legacies.

Oh, wait! Did I mention they also work on opera and theatre scenes too? Wednesday evening began with a love-themed scenes program including musical theatre (Candide and Wicked), opera (including La Boheme, The Coronation of Poppea, The Merry Widow, The Bartered Bride, Carmen and four of Mozart's operas) and dialogue from Sam Shepard's Savage/Love.

For me, one of the most touching moments was a duet (later turning into an ensemble piece) from Wicked. I know the history of many of these kids and certainly how quickly they become close friends during this short time. You could see the love and joy in all of their eyes as they sang, "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good."

The world premiere of their brand-new Penrose opera followed. It included fun numbers like a "Boys Being Boys" song about Spencer's bachelor life followed by the girls trying to gain the rich bachelor's attention. There's also a charming "I'm the Greatest" type song sung by Spencer, and the opera ends with a touching piece about the Penrose's true legacy, having touched so many people's lives in Colorado and beyond.

The Intensive continues through this weekend with the students in residence in Central City through Sunday. They will attend all five main stage operas, observe classes of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program and also receive their own master classes in movement, stage combat and vocal work with Festival company members. In the short time in between, they'll finesse their scenes program. There will be two public performances of their work in Williams Stables (across from the Opera House). For just $5 you can enjoy the AMAZING scenes program these students have prepared during this Performing Arts Intensive: on Saturday July 30th at 2:30 PM and Sunday July 31st at 10:00 AM. Please join us! Tickets are available online.

Auditions for the Performing Arts Intensive are generally in the Fall. For more information, visit our Performing Arts Intensive page or contact the Colorado Springs Conservatory at (719) 577-4556.

2010 Summer Performing Arts Intensive

It's been a whirlwind weekend up here in Central City. Colorado Springs Conservatory partnered with Central City Opera for the seventh Summer Performing Arts Intensive, bringing fourteen talented high school students to Central City for the weekend. The kids had been working for two weeks on a program of scenes and songs and their own original opera based on the life of Colorado native Antoinette Perry, Broadway actress, producer and namesake of the Tony Awards. The students came from around the country to spend those two weeks in Colorado Springs, culminating in a weekend of opera and performance right here in Central City.

They arrived last Wednesday and were greeted with a sandwich supper with company members. The students got to interact with some of the artists and staff members and ask questions, and it was lovely to talk to a group of such bright, interested students. They had seen Three Decembers before dinner, and they were all delighted to have Decembers stars Emily Pulley and Keith Phares to talk to. Other company members shared their wisdom as well, and as a student myself, I was thrilled to be able to hear their advice and watch them interact so warmly with the Summer Intensive students.

That, however, was just the beginning. The students got to see all three operas over the weekend, as well as some festival extras. In the midst of it all, they attended classes with CCO Musical Director John Baril and Artistic Director Emeritus John Moriarty, and they rehearsed for their performances, which took place Friday and Saturday night. I had the pleasure of attending Friday night's performance. I was touched and thrilled by what I saw. The performance consisted of a scenes program called Through the Eyes of a Child and an original opera, Toni: The Story of Antoinette Perry. The whole scene program was entertaining, but my favorite parts were the songs and monologues from the famous musical A Chorus Line. I sang in A Chorus Line when I was in high school, and I have a lot of wonderful memories that revolve around that show. The sections from it in the scenes program took me back. It was awesome.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes program, what I was really impressed with was the opera. Toni was entertaining, informative, and well written. The music was catchy and the performances were compelling. And while it perhaps bore more resemblance to musical theatre than it did to opera, I can't fault anyone for that; I enjoyed it too much.

It was also such a great pleasure to have high school kids around who were so enthusiastic about opera and theatre and so excited to be here! Opera generally has an older audience, so I'm always excited when I see one young person in the audience. It was inspiring to have 14 of them here.

Thanks to the hard work of everyone at the Colorado Springs Conservatory and here in CCO's education department and otherwise for their hard work in making this happen. It was a lovely weekend!

The Performing Arts Intensive is open to students ages 14-19.  Auditions for the 2011 Intensive will be held in the fall.  Visit www.centralcityopera.org/highschoolintensive or www.coloradospringsconservatory.org for more information.