STAR Performances Begin July 20

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Young actors sing, dance, mime, and perform Shakespeare on the Main Stage at Perseverance

 JUNEAU, AK– Summer Theatre Arts Rendezvous (STAR), Perseverance Theatre’s five-week youth acting program, provides theatrical training and performance opportunities to students aged 10-18 who are excited about theatre. In addition to rehearsals, STAR participants take daily workshops on voice, movement and acting technique, culminating in three fully produced shows that are perfect summer entertainment for the whole family: Once on This Island Jr, As You Like It, and an original piece, Extreme Theatre! Performances run between July 20 and July 29.

The Plays:

Once on This Island Jr.

Book & Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens

Music by Stephen Flaherty

This irresistible Caribbean fable inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid is about growing up and staying true to yourself. When peasant girl Ti Moune falls in love with a boy from the wealthy side of her island, the gods send her on a journey that will test the strength of love against the powerful forces of prejudice, hatred, and even death. Come dance and sing to the beat of the human heart, in a show whose full-length version on Broadway just won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

Performances:

July 20 at 7:30 p.m.

July 22 at 2:00 p.m.

July 27 at 7:30 p.m.

July 29 at 2:00 p.m.

As You Like It

By William Shakespeare, abridged by Donnie Gott

It’s a classic story of boy meets girl meets boy who is actually girl who teaches boy to woo girl while masquerading as a boy. It’s a tale full of wrestling, banishment, adventure, unrequited (and requited) love, sibling rivalry, music, and lions! This hilarious comedy travels from the court to the forest with beautiful and witty banter, including Jaques’ immortal “all the world’s a stage” speech, along with cases of mistaken identity that have characters scratching their heads and exposing their hearts to fantastic and wonderful ends.

Performances:

July 21 at 2:00 p.m.

July 25 at 7:30 p.m.

July 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Extreme Theatre!

Back by popular demand, visionary Seattle theatre artist K. Brian Neel returns to STAR to direct another actor-devised variety show. Improvisation, physical theatre, and scene-writing combine with youthful sensibilities to create a bold, comedic, and exciting performance unlike anything you’ve seen.

Performances:

July 21 at 7:30 p.m.

July 26 at 7:30 p.m.

July 28 at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets are $5 for students, $12 general admission, and available online at ptalaska.org/education/star-program or by calling the Perseverance box office at (907) 463-8497. Our theatre is located at 914 Third Street in Douglas.

 

Welcome Our New Director of Outreach and Engagement Julie York Coppens

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Perseverance Theatre welcomes veteran theatre artist and journalist Julie York Coppens to the staff this week as Director of Outreach and Engagement.

In this role, a new leadership position for Perseverance, Julie will oversee communications and youth programming, working to build audiences while widening and deepening the theatre’s community connections—particularly in Juneau, but also in Anchorage and across the state.

“Julie brings a great combination of expertise and enthusiasm for theatre, passion for teaching young people, and her skills and knowledge as a journalist,” says Executive Artistic Director Art Rotch. “Perseverance is fortunate to have her, and I know she will make a difference.”

Prior to joining Perseverance, Julie served twelve years on the national publications staff of the Educational Theatre Association; she was a senior editor of Dramatics magazine and director of Thespian Playworks, EdTA’s highly regarded playwriting program for high school students. A nationally recognized arts reporter and reviewer, she covered theatre for the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, and Cincinnati CityBeat, among others; a longtime member of the American Theatre Critics Association, she served on the judging committee for the Primus Prize, honoring female playwrights.

Since moving to Juneau in 2012 from her hometown of Cincinnati, Julie’s career has included more theatre-making. She directed Perseverance Theatre’s Young Company production this spring, Tales from the Nine Worlds: Selections from Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, using her own adapted script. She’s been a teaching artist, producer, musical director, performer, writer, director, and creative consultant for many local organizations, including Northern Lights Junior Theatre, Juneau Public Libraries, Juneau Alaska Music Matters, the University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau Dance Theatre, and the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, where she’s been a Kennedy Center-sponsored Field Leader for the Any Given Child initiative. This fall she will direct Here’s Looking at You, CASABLANCA, an immersive cabaret theatre/film experience, for Juneau Lyric Opera.

In addition to her work in theatre and journalism, Julie is a 20-year veteran instructor/guide, publications director, and longtime board member of Ski for Light, Inc., an all-volunteer organization that introduces the sport of cross-country skiing to adults with visual and mobility impairments. She’s also been an audio-describer of theatre and dance and a narrator of books and magazines for the blind.

Making Perseverance Theatre’s programming more accessible to audiences of all abilities, ages, backgrounds, and identities, she says, will be a personal priority: “When we say, ‘Professional theatre by and for Alaskans,’ we mean all Alaskans. There is a seat here for everyone, and an honored place on our stage for everyone’s stories.”

Julie has a 13-year-old son, Seth, and a three-year-old Schnoodle, Simeo—both gifted actors themselves. Seth Coppens played Scout in Perseverance’s acclaimed 2017 production of To Kill a Mockingbird, while Julie served as dramaturg.

“We’re kind of accidental Alaskans,” admits Julie, who relocated to Juneau for a relationship that ended last year with the loss of her husband, Ken Leghorn, to cancer. “But like so many others, I’ve fallen in love with this place and its people, and I think I have more work to do here. I’m thrilled to join the Perseverance team, supporting these exceptional artists in a job that weaves together all the strands of my crazy résumé.”

Julie’s communications team will include Amy O’Neill Houck, who has stepped down from her role as Director of Marketing and Engagement but will continue her outstanding work for Perseverance part-time, from her new home base in Cordova. On educational programming, Julie will collaborate with artist-in-residence Enrique Bravo, who’s coordinating this summer’s STAR program, a five-week acting camp for students ages 10-18.

We Are Rising

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We are rising. This story by KTOO’s Jacob Resneck hits the main points: staff and artists are back to work, 41 students are creating magic together with STAR, some generous friends and our tireless board of directors are shoring up the finances—and, at this 40-year milestone, we’re making some changes on- and off-stage to ensure a more sustainable future for Alaska’s professional regional theatre. Thank you, KTOO, for helping us get the good news out, and thanks to all our supporters for being patient while we work through these steps. There’s much more to come.

Perseverance Theatre 2018 Travel Raffle Winners!

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2018 PT Raffle Results!

Thanks to everyone that bought a ticket. We will be contacting you this week about collecting prizes.

Grand Prize: Jamie Nelson
2nd: Danielle Meier
3rd: Andrea Watts
4th: Maila Bischoff
5th: Anne Post
6th: Lynn Hirschi
7th: Luke Metcalfe
8th: Kristi Peel
9th: Krista Schaefer
10th: Ellen Ferguson
11th: Deborah Naspinsky
12th: Spencer Biegel
13th: Bob Hume
14th: Ron Schonenbach
15th: Mary Lou Madden
16th: Paulette Simpson
17th: Leah Farzin
18th: R Johnson
19th: Mike Stout
20th: Arlitia Jones

Cancellation of Alaska Dates for Snow Child

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Dear Friends and Supporters,

Today we made the tough decision to cancel the Alaska dates for the world premiere of Snow Child.

Perseverance Theatre stands by its reputation to create professional, high-quality theatre productions. Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to meet the logistical needs this beautiful production deserves in order to stay true to our mission and the vision of the show.

We are grateful to Director Molly Smith and to all our friends at Arena Stage for working with us on this Alaskan story, and for making such a beautiful musical out of Eowyn Ivey’s novel. We regret we couldn’t successfully bring Snow Child to Alaska this season and will look for other ways to share this adaptation of Eowyn Ivey’s novel with Alaskans in the future.

If you are holding a ticket for a Snow Child performance, we will contact you with options for refunding or repurposing your ticket cost.

Thank you so much for your continued support of theatre by and for Alaskans.

Sincerely,

 

Art Rotch
Executive and Artistic Director

Perseverance Theatre

Young Company to perform Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology

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Tales from the Nine Worlds: Selections from Neil Gaiman’s NORSE MYTHOLOGY 

Adapted and directed by Julie York Coppens 

Odin and Thor, Loki and Idun — the colorful gods and goddesses of Asgard, and the motley creatures they like to mess with, have always held a special fascination for master storyteller Neil Gaiman (Neverwhere, Coraline, American Gods). His latest book, just released in paperback, reveals why. (It also reveals what the Marvel Comics movies got wrong.)

By some miraculous stroke of Thor’s hammer, Juneau’s own Perseverance Theatre will be among the first to attempt a stage adaptation of Gaiman’s NORSE MYTHOLOGY, and we’re going to do it with a cast of 8- to 15-year-olds in a black box studio that might make a cozy kennel for Fenrir the wolf, nevermind nine mythic worlds and the great tree Yggdrasil at the center of them all. We suspect Loki had a hand in this plan…

This spring, join Perseverance Theatre’s Young Company on a dark, perilous, often hilarious adventure through a few of Norse mythology’s greatest hits, plus one or two episodes you’ve probably never heard before, all told with Gaiman’s incomparable imagination and humor. Gods and monsters, dwarfs and Frost Giants: here’s your chance to step into some larger-than-life roles, honing your theatrical super-powers and hammering your fears, while taking an audience on a truly epic journey.      

Rehearses: 4-6 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting April 10

Performs: May 18-21 in the Phoenix Theatre 

Cost: $275 (scholarships available)

To register: Go to www.ptalaska.org/young-company, or call 907-463-8497

Love Poetry Slam

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Perseverance Theatre and 49th State Brewing Co. Present

Poetry Slam – The Love Sessions

Wednesday April 18th, 2018 – Door at 6pm, Slam at 7pm.
at the 49th State Brewing Co. @ 3rd and G.

Master of Ceremony – Trey Parker

Guest Judges

Shyanne Beatty – Alaska Native Heritage Center

Don Megga – radio host

Daryl Schaff – theatre personality

Loren Dixon – radio host

Jackie Purcell – KTUU Channel 2 News

Cash prizes for the top three poets.

To participate, contact Shirley Mae Springer Staten – Shirleymae@gci.net

Get the poster – Poetry8x11poster

Spring Break Camps 2018

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Creative Dramatics, ages 6-10
9:30am – 11:30am
Develop new acting skills in this lively class with theatre exercises and creative play.

Improvisation, ages 9-14
9:30am – 11:30am
Learn the basics of theatre improvisation and the art of thinking quickly on your feet.

Performance Intensive, ages 10-18
12pm – 5pm
Students will rehearse and perform a play and/or scenes in one week. The public is invited to the performance Friday, March 23rd.

Anchorage SPRING BREAK ONSTAGE, ages 10-18
10:00am – 5:00pm (Friday 7:30 Performance)
Create your own original work of theatre completely from scratch.

In Juneau tuition is $175 for Creative Dramatics or Improvisation and $200 for the Performance Intensive

In Anchorage tuition is $225.

Register online or contact Enrique at 364-2421 ext. 239 or enrique@ptalaska.org for more information.

2018 Travel Raffle

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Prize List for the 34th Annual Travel Raffle

This travel raffle is a fundraiser to benefit Perseverance Theatre. The drawing will be held Monday, June 11, 2018 at Perseverance Theatre in Douglas, Alaska. You need not be present to win. The chances of winning a prize are approximately 1:160, based on the sale of 4000 tickets.

Tickets are $10 each.  Permit No 34.

GRAND PRIZE – Two round-trip tickets from Alaska Airlines, plus $2000 in cash, and a one-night stay at the Hotel Beacon in New York. Value: $5500

 

2nd Prize – Two tickets on Level One or Level Two Helicopter Tours from NorthStar Trekking (space available) and pair of season tickets to Perseverance Theatre’s 2018-2019 season. Value: $1270

3rd Prize – Bear watching for two from Alaska Charter Adventures and a Stikine River Tour from Alaska Waters in Wrangle. Value: $1062

4th Prize – Two round-trip tickets from Alaska Seaplanes, plus one night stay for two at the Historic Skagway Inn. Value: $785

5th Prize – Two pairs of tickets to any performing arts events in the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council in season 44, a pair of season tickets to the Juneau Symphony, and a pair of season tickets to Perseverance Theatre’s 2018-2019 season. Value: $780

6th Prize – $100 gift certificate to Douglas Café, $50 gift certificate to the Island Pub, $50 gift certificate to Louie’s Douglas Inn in Douglas and a pair of season tickets to Perseverance Theatre’s 2018-2019 season. Value: $632

7th Prize – Misty Fjords Flightseeing Tour for 2 from Spirit of Alaska Tours and a walk-on trip for two on the inter-island ferry in Ketchikan. Value: $603

8th Prize – A one night stay for two at the Oscar Gill House and a season subscription for two to Perseverance Theatre’s 2018-2019 Anchorage season. Value: $572

9th Prize – A pair of tickets for a zipline tour from Alaska Canopy Adventure and a one night stay for two plus breakfast at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau. Value: $497

10th Prize – A one night stay for two with breakfast at Alaska’s Capital Inn Bed & Breakfast in Juneau and a $75 gift certificate for Taku Smokeries. Value $464

11th Prize – A pair of season tickets to Perseverance Theatre’s 2018-2019 Season and a $15 gift certificate to Haines Brewing Company. Value: $447

12th Prize – One night stay for two at the Driftwood Hotel in Juneau and a one-week bike rental from Cycle Alaska. Value: $299

13th Prize – Two tickets to a performance at Portland Center Stage in Portland, Oregon and two tickets to any performance at Perseverance Theatre. Value: $260

14th Prize – Columbia Glacier Cruise for two from Stan Stephens Wildlife Cruises in Valdez. Value: $250

15th Prize – One night stay for two at the Oscar Gill House in Anchorage, a $50 gift certificate to Orso, and a $50 gift certificate to the Moose’s Tooth or Bear’s Tooth. Value: $240

16th Prize – A one hour theatre rental at the Gold Town Nickelodeon with popcorn in Juneau, two free yoga classes with Rainforest Yoga, and picnic supplies from Nugget Alaskan Outfitters. Value: $197

17th Prize – Two tickets to any performance in Perseverance Theatre’s 2018-2019 season and two free yoga classes from Rainforest Yoga. Value: $130

18th Prize – Two tickets to any show at Perseverance Theatre for the 2018-2019 season and a $30 gift certificate for Brown Boots Costume Company in Juneau. Value: $130

19th Prize – Two tickets to any performance in Perseverance Theatre’s 2018-2019 season. Value: $100

20th Prize – Two tickets to a regular feature film, plus popcorn and soda from the Goldtown Nickelodeon in Juneau and a Heritage Coffee gift basket. Value: $96

Thank you to the generous businesses that donated prizes! You can still help by volunteering to sell raffle tickets. For every book you sell, your name will be entered in a special drawing to win 2018-2019 season tickets to Perseverance Theatre. For more information visit ptalaska.org, or call the theatre at 907-364-2421 x228. You may also email Development Associate Frank Henry Kaash Katasse, frank@ptalaska.org.