PRESS RELEASE: Stages Bloomington and IU Theatre & Dance Midsummer Theatre Camp present: CHICAGO: TEEN EDITION

Stages Bloomington and IU Theatre & Dance Midsummer Theatre Camp present: CHICAGO: TEEN EDITION 

Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Script adaptation by David Thompson
Directed by Ansley Valentine
Choreographed by DJ Gray
Music Directed by Kyla Sherry

July 23 @ 7:30 pm
July 24 @ 7:30 pm
July 25 @ 2 pm & 7:30 pm

Wells-Metz Theater
Indiana University
275 N. Eagleson Ave.
Bloomington, IN

In an exciting new collaboration between 20-year-old youth theatre company, Stages Bloomington, and a revitalized IU Midsummer Theatre Camp, 14 talented teens will grace IU’s Wells-Metz Theatre with their rendition of Kander and Ebb’s Chicago: Teen Edition! Bringing together local Bloomington teens and teens from across Indiana, Stages Bloomington and the IU Midsummer Theatre Camp are replicating a summer stock experience to prepare these performers for a life in the theatre.

While most high school students have months and months to prepare for their musical productions, this cast has just three weeks. To get this all done, the performers need a crack team to lead them. On the dance front, choreographer DJ Gray leads the charge. “We are working at a professional rate: they only have a very short amount of time to learn the material, and put a character into the movement.” Gray is an Associate Area Head of the BFA Musical Theatre Program at IU, and has worked as the associate choreographer on the original production of Spelling Bee.

For music, Kyla Sherry is excited uncover the challenges of the musical theatre canon with our cast: “While popular musical theatre is fun to sing, it’s also the hardest because you realize that there are little nuances that are different from what’s written in the score, and then the cast gets to make their own music.”

Leading the production is the newly appointed IU Theatre and Drama Chair Ansley Valentine, who along with directing the show is also responsible for reinstating the Midsummer Theatre Camp. Starting way back in the early 2000s, Valentine says the camp has “always been a great way for students to get a feel for IU theatre and the campus and have a pretty intensive theatre experience, and many of them have often decided to come to school here.”

This intensive three week process combines morning classes and afternoon rehearsals for performers to learn new skills and then apply them to a rehearsal process. Bobby Perez, a local actor and director with his MFA in Acting from IU, leads the performers through classes on mask work, clowning and Stanislavski techniques. “He’s really excited to do stuff with us, and I think that excitement is really contagious,” says cast member Allyn King. “I really like his way of teaching, and I like that he lets us have our own input as to what we do.”

Bringing back a camp like this took some finesse: “We certainly couldn’t have brought it back without Stages,” says Valentine. “Post pandemic it’s important to have those campus and community partnerships that are beneficial to both parties.” Stages Bloomington also shares a long history, entering its 20th year serving Monroe County. “IU has been such a great neighbor to us, and we want to build more partnerships in the coming years to pass that generosity on,” says the new Managing Director of Stages, Annalise Cain. “Bloomington is rife with passionate, collaborative people, and we know our work is made easier and better by sharing resources.”

Get your tickets here. $25 for adults, $15 for youth.

CHICAGO: TEEN EDITION is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com

This program is supported in part by Psi Iota Xi Thrift Shop and Indiana Arts Commission.