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| The SpotLight Musical Theatre Program is operated by Hennepin Theatre Trust, a non-profit organization that owns the historic State, Orpheum and Pantages Theatres and is devoted to enriching the vibrant cultural environment of the Twin Cities. The Trust created SpotLight in 2005 with two goals in mind. First, SpotLight honors and recognizes high school students who participate and excel in musical theatre, second to underscore the importance of including theatre arts education in high schools. Unlike athletics or academics, there was no established public forum to celebrate the talents and hard work that goes into creating high school musicals. SpotLight provides the opportunity to celebrate the fine work that goes into creating these amazing productions. In addition to developing performance related skills, students who participate in musical theatre develop skills such as collaboration, elocution, critical thinking, problem solving and self-expression that are essential to success in the modern world. |
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| Any high school (public, private and parochial) in the seven county Twin Cities metro area that produces a musical may apply. Applications are available online in late August of each year at www.HennepinTheatreTrust.org. Schools are accepted into the program according to the receipt of the electronic application. Participation is limited to 25 high schools per calendar year. |
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| No. You produce your musical and our evaluators come to you. The most critical aspect of this program, however, is communication. As the director and/or teacher you are responsible for acting as the primary liaison and relaying appropriate information from the SpotLight Program to your students and their families throughout the year. It is important to designate an additional primary contact if your director is not a full-time employee at the school. At the award ceremony in June, schools and individuals that are recognized for Overall Production of a Musical and Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role will have the opportunity to perform as part of the event. This will require directors to schedule rehearsals with their students on their own time for their specific production numbers prior to the award ceremony in June. |
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| No. There is a one time $100 registration fee which helps to cover administrative and evaluator fees. The conference workshop held on Saturday, June 13th is $25 per student which covers breakfast, lunch, teaching artist and material fees. We will waive fees for any student or school that demonstrates financial need. |
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| Three evaluators from the professional musical theatre world and the field of education attend each participating school’s musical production. The evaluators critique the performance based on several different categories, using a rubric developed for the Rising Star Program at the Paper Mill Playhouse as their guide. Based on the evaluator’s comments and tabulations, productions and individuals that receive high ranking nominations in a specific category are recognized and honored at an awards ceremony held in the spring of each year. |
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| No. Each participating musical is evaluated on the merits of the individual production and is not compared or ranked against other musicals. Depending on the results of the evaluations, there can be multiple honorees in each category. |
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| The SpotLight Program provides an excellent opportunity for high school theatre students from across the metro area to network with other students, receive constructive feedback of their production from three professional evaluators, gain valuable knowledge from the workshops available to them at the SpotLight annual conference and to be recognized for their involvement and talent. Throughout the year, participating schools will have the opportunities to attend special events, discounted Broadway shows, and artist talk backs sponsored by Hennepin Theatre Trust. In addition, a professional theatre artist will be available to lead topic specific musical theatre workshops at your school sometime during the year. Through the SpotLight Program, the Trust seeks to underscore the value of high school theatre programs and how these musicals build individual skills, engage students and enrich communities. |
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| On Saturday, June 13th, students will have the opportunity to attend a day long conference consisting of musical theatre related workshops, forums and information for the students. The workshops will be facilitated by musical theatre experts. The conference culminates with a professionally produced awards ceremony on the evening of Sunday, June 14th at the historic Orpheum Theatre. Outstanding Overall Productions and Outstanding Lead honorees will be featured in performances at the awards. |
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| Hennepin Theatre Trust depends upon financial support from individuals, foundations and corporations who believe in recognizing and honoring young aspiring artists and the importance of including theatre arts education in the schools. We also welcome your volunteer energy to make the June event a great success! For information on how you can contribute please contact Ann Kim, Director of Education & Community Engagement at Ann.Kim@HennepinTheatreTrust.org or at 612-373-5696. |
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| For more information, please go to: www.HennepinTheatreTrust.org/education/spotlight/. |
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