PAC is Getting in Shape for Summer!

Summer on Stage 2012!

We are halfway through our Season of Plays here at the conservatory, and with Spring Break upon us, we have begun to look forward to the next phase of our year – summer! During the summer months, we certainly take time to smell the roses (we do live in the City of Roses, after all!), but that doesn’t mean we are not as busy as ever! 

Our summer youth conservatory provides an opportunity for us to shift focus to developing the next generation of artists and arts lovers. Summer on Stage offers Portland area youth an unmatched summer camp experience, guided by professional actors and singers who nurture and support while instilling vital skills and a sense of professionalism in our young participants.

Gabriel Abdellatif

Seventh grader Gabriel Abdellatif, who will be spending his third summer on our stage, shares, “The opportunity of an arts program where young people learn many of the same skills professional actors learn is such a rare thing. Many school’s arts programs are lacking, so to have a program so fantastic to fill the holes is a real gift.”

Summer on Stage offers students the same opportunities and instruction PAC offers in our nationally accredited two year professional actor training program. Students will study voice, movement and fundamental acting technique during the morning sessions, and in the afternoons our students will put theory into practice by producing and performing in a play. Plays range in style from Shakespeare to original works created by the students. Participants are exposed to classical and modern themes in ways that make them immediately relevant to the youth of today.



SOS students putting theory into practice



For young people like Gabriel, the benefits of SOS go beyond the stage. “I have learned about movement and what role it plays in theater. I learned how to make a resumé and audition for a show, perform Shakespeare and even write my own play,” he explains, adding, “The skills I learned in SOS have helped me outside the world of acting. They have helped me in school when we have a Literature Seminar; I am not lost when the teacher starts reading Shakespeare or in my writing classes. I know how to give my character depth because I learned to write dialogue for real people.”

Our exceptional instructors include Andrea White, most recently starring in Oregon Children’s Theatre’s Locomotion and Profile Theatre’s A Lesson Before Dying, and Melissa Whitney, a member of Northwest Classical Theatre Company, onstage now in Much Ado About Nothing. Melissa is also a Special Education teacher with the Beaverton School District.

   

Michelle Kopper Seymour, president of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance, leads our Musical Theatre Intensive for teens, and brings her expertise as the owner of Vanport Square Studio where she combines 25 years as a professional actor/singer to bring unique insight to her classes and workshops.



Acting exercises in the PAC studio

We offer scholarships to our summer programs for promising students who require tuition assistance to gain access to our training, and various discounts are available for those who qualify.

Check our website for details of our program, and share the extraordinary benefits of a summer on stage with your favorite young person!