The award-winning New Jersey Youth Theatre (NJYT) is proud to announce that its Performing Arts School’s 19th season of classes for students age 5 to 23 will begin the week of October 12, 2010. Registration sessions for classes in Drama, Voice, Musical Theatre and Dance will be held Tuesdays and Wednesdays September 14, 15, 21, and 22 from 4 pm to 8pm at the New Jersey Youth Theatre studio at 172 W. Westfield Avenue in Roselle Park. Semester 1 classes will be offered October 12, 2010 through February 2, 2011; Semester 2 classes will run from February 7, 2011 through May 11, 2011.

New Jersey Youth Theatre is celebrated as one of the most critically acclaimed youth theatre companies in New Jersey. The National Youth Theatre recently announced that it is honoring NJYT’s production of “Sweeney Todd” with nine awards including “Best Musical,” “Best Actor and Actress,” and “Best Director.” Drama critic Peter Filichia of the Star Ledger honored NJYT’s “Sweeney Todd” with four 2009/2010 New Jersey Obie awards including Best Revival and Best Director to Cynthia Meryl, Artistic Director of New Jersey Youth Theatre and Director of NJYT’s recent summer smash hit, RENT, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the Algonquin Arts Theatre. New Jersey Youth Theatre also recently received its second consecutive Citation of Excellence from the New Jersey Council for the Arts.

The mission of New Jersey Youth Theatre (formerly Westfield Young Artists’ Cooperative Theatre or WYACT) is: to provide the highest quality theatre arts education and on-stage experience to aspiring young performers and technicians interested in entering the professional arena. NJYT classes are designed to prepare young performers for auditions and the professional stage. Meryl, NJYT Executive Director Ted Agress, and the school’s esteemed faculty instill in young artists the importance of commitment and discipline in all areas of the performing arts. Students develop the confidence and tenacity needed not only to pursue a career in theatre, but also to face any challenge in life.

NJYT’s Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced Acting classes concentrate on improvisation, character development and scene study. The program offers three levels of Musical Theatre instruction, focusing on song selection and interpretation, ensemble work, voice, and musical theatre movement. Students, age five to seven, may enroll in Theatre Games for Kids, an introduction to drama through improvisation, movement, vocal work, and storytelling techniques. Dance classes include various levels of Ballet, Ballet/Jazz, Tap, and Hip Hop. Private voice lessons are offered through auditions.

Classes are scheduled Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 4 pm and 9:45 pm. Students who enroll in more than one NJYT class per week or pay tuition in full at time of registration will qualify for tuition discounts.

New to the NJYT school staff this year is dance instructor Stacie Shivers (Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop), who works with three dance companies and was named American Dance Award’s Dancer of the Year. Other faculty members include: Cynthia Meryl (Master Instructor), a Broadway veteran and professional actress for 35 years who has stage-directed and produced over 40 NJYT productions and teaches Beginners’ and Advanced Acting, Musical Theatre, and private voice, James Campodonico (Musical Director/Accompanist), an accomplished composer, who has taught vocal music for 33 years and acted as musical director to over 100 productions, Alberta Handelman (Intermediate Acting), a professional actress who has taught acting in schools for more than 25 years and founded the Blooming Grove Theatre Ensemble, Kimberly Strafford (Beginners’ Acting), who has performed with Theatreworks USA and Hudson Shakespeare Co. and has led drama teaching-artist in residences in New York City public schools, and Evan Edwards (Tap), who has performed in over 60 productions in the United States and Europe including Miss Saigon and is both a noted choreographer/director and theatre arts instructor.

NJYT has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and from the NJ State Council on the Arts. For detailed information about NJYT classes and productions, call 908-233-3200 or email at [email protected].