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CST Insider - January 2014

CST Brings Shakespeare to Community Schools

After concluding its five-week and forty five-performance run at CST’s home on Navy Pier for tens of thousands of student and family audiences, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream will begin its second five weeks—this time on tour to area schools, March 24 – April 25.  Out on tour, the thirteen cast members are accompanied each day by their tour manager and seven crew members. In a large truck, a van and two cars, all twenty—plus the production set—move from school to school. Many mornings start as early as 6:00 a.m. with large mugs of coffee in hand. Arriving at the school, the stage manager and light and sound operators quickly assess the stage, the entrances, the light plot and sound board, and recreate the show’s production values in a new space each day.

In schools where there are active drama programs, the CST team doesn’t always have to create all the theater magic entirely on their own. A group of students volunteers to meet the truck as soon as CST pulls up, to help unload and set up, and to familiarize the crew with the backstage and stage areas, and sometimes with the school’s particular theatrical equipment. The students’ presence offers the crew great firsthand knowledge—and gives the students the opportunity to work beside a professional team as they negotiate a day on the road.

For more than twenty years, the Short Shakespeare! tour has expanded the impact of the Theater’s education program by bringing professional productions directly into schools as a dynamic complement to classroom study. This year engaging 40,000 students in Shakespeare through the unmatched power of live performance, Short Shakespeare! will visit Chicago neighborhoods as geographically diverse as Pilsen, Rogers Park and Mount Greenwood, as well as many suburban communities, from Summit on the city’s southwest side to Hoffman Estates and Oak Park, miles northwest and west of the city.

“The tech crew students had a wonderful time helping out before and after the show. It was a great experience for them to be able to work with professionals. It's all they talked about during lunch yesterday after the show.”—Teacher, Riverside Brookfield High School, Riverside, IL (12/13 tour)

“The kids loved the performance ... Frankly, we were quite proud and overwhelmed to have your company on our stage.” —Teacher, Willowbrook High School, Villa Park, IL (12/13 tour)

Spring 2014 Tour

3/24/2014

Benito Juarez Community Academy

Chicago

IL

3/25/2014

Washburne Jr. High

Winnetka

IL

3/26/2014

Wheaton Warrenville South High School

Wheaton

IL

3/27/2014

UNO charter - Rogers Park

Chicago

IL

3/28/2014

Glenbard West High School

Glen Ellyn

IL

3/31/2014

Conant High School

Hoffman Estates

IL

4/1/2014

Mother McAuley High School

Chicago 

IL

4/2/2014

Argo Community High School

Summit 

IL

4/3/2014

Barrington High School

Barrington

IL

4/4/2014

Libertyville High School

Libertyville

IL

4/7/2014

Governors State University

University Park

IL

4/8/2014

Loyola Academy High School

Wilmette

IL

4/9/2014

Lake Park High School

Roselle

IL

4/10/2014

Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School

Oak Park

IL

4/11/2014

Central Middle School

Tinley Park

IL

4/14/2014

Nazareth Academy

La Grange Park

IL

4/15/2014

Lyons Township South High School

Western Springs

IL

4/16/2014

Lowell High School

Lowell

IN

4/17/2014

Dundee-Crown High School

Carpentersville

IL

4/21/2014

Prairie State College

Chicago Heights

IL

4/22/2014

Catholic Memorial High School

Waukesha

WI

4/23/2014

Chicago Academy High School

Chicago

IL

4/24/2014

Wright College

Chicago

IL

4/25/2014

Bogan Computer Tech High School

Chicago

IL

 

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Up and Coming:

Since I Suppose
August 8–September 21, 2014 

King Lear 
September 9–November 9, 2014

The Magic Flute 
September 25–September 28, 2014

Ionesco Suite 
October 15–October 19, 2014

Pericles 
November 30, 2014–January 18, 2015

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