In the spirit of looking towards the future, NEXT asked emerging TYA professionals around the country to tell us what's going on this year that makes them look forward to going to work in the morning. Whether it's exciting residencies, innovative productions or new positions, there's so much going on this season that we decided to highlight a few projects here.

Cheryl Green: Youth & Community Engagement Director; Sojourn Theatre; Sojourn Theatre has spent one year engaging in community and foundation partner building and research to develop a live theatre documentary on public education in Oregon. This school year, we will tour the state with a performance event that is a 70-minute Sunday matinee of the documentary followed by a facilitated town-hall style dialogue in which community members and elected leaders will discuss the ideas represented in the play and seek community-specific resolutions to the current issues affecting education here. I think it's so cool because we'll be performing on high school campuses primarily and asking teachers to work with their students to respond to the event within their classrooms and communities. And our website will become interactive so attendees can converse online after each performance. It's the biggest documentary this company has ever done, and we're jazzed to let everyone know something like this is actually possible!
Jim DeVivo: Assistant Director of Education/Youth Troupe Director; Playwright's Theatre of New Jersey; I'm particularly excited about this season's installment of the PTNJ Youth Troupe. I directed thirteen students (grades 5-8) in last year's pilot program where we created an original performance piece around the theme "Conformity vs. Independence." I've restructured the program so we'll meet more regularly over the course of the school year and perform in March. In addition to our performance in PTNJ's main space, we hope to travel to community sites around Morris, Union, and Essex Counties in New Jersey.
Tori January: Youth Drama Specialist; Pennsylvania Youth Theatre; For years the Pennsylvania Youth Theatre in Bethlehem, PA has offered in-school residencies for special-needs classrooms through our Pegasus Program. I am very excited because this year we are expanding the program to include a weeklong summer camp at PYT for students who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing. My preliminary planning meetings have been very exciting and I look forward to learning all I can about developing an appropriate program.
Karen Ramps: Administrative Director of Theater for Youth; Woodruff Arts Center; The thing I'm most excited about (other than working for the Alliance) is that we've added a shadow-interpreted production for the deaf as a weekend performance this year for our production of The Miracle Worker. I've never worked in a theater that accommodated an audience with disabilities, and to come to a place that has sign interpreters follow actors onstage is just an incredible experience. FYI: Katharine Field held this position through July 2004. She's off to law school, and I've been hired into her position.
David Kilpatrick: Education Outreach Coordinator; Walnut Street Theatre; As a brand-new transplant to the theatre, I'm especially excited about training our new crew of acting apprentices (all recent college grads) in educational theatre techniques so that they can provide workshops that correspond with the outreach shows they'll perform. One of the touring shows I can't wait to work on is Tom Quinn's No Easy Road To Freedom, which deals with lessons in American diversity - from immigration to slavery to Matthew Shepard. I think the question-and-answer period afterwards will be really eye opening.
Jennifer Bronder: Education Director; Making Books Sing; Our company will be performing A Band of Angels in February. Based on the book by Deborah Hopkinson, A Band of Angels is the inspirational story of Ella Sheppard and the Jubilee Singers, whose musical world tour rescued Fisk University from bankruptcy. Under the direction of creative team George Faison (The Wiz), Linda Twine (Caroline, or Change) and emerging playwright Myla Churchill, A Band of Angels is the catalyst for our education programs including artist residencies, parent-child workshops, and professional development.
Carrie Mills: Associate Education Director; Asolo Theatre Company; I'm excited to be starting at the Asolo Theatre Company as the Associate Education Director. The Asolo, in Sarasota, FL, was one of 22 companies to receive the NEA "Shakespeare for a New Generation" grant this year. The theatre will conduct pre-show workshops for students and teachers from underserved schools in western Florida. The students will then come to Sarasota to see A Midsummer Night's Dream produced by the Asolo and have a chance for a talkback immediately following the performance. After returning to their schools, the students will participate in post-performance workshops with professional artists from the theatre. This grant will give many students the chance to witness a live Shakespeare production for the first time.

Information gathered by Stephanie Lash Kilpatrick, the associate editor of TYA Today and a teaching artist in Philadelphia. She can be reached at lashs@hotmail.com

Let us know what you're excited about this season. Submit your 100 words or less to nextassitej@yahoo.com.

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