The cool thing about being a part of the Straz Center is sharing a building with the talented artists who grace our stages.
Touring cast members from Broadway productions and other shows frequently carve the time out of their schedules to offer free classes to our Patel Conservatory students. What a fabulous opportunity!
This week, the cast of Wonderland has offered their expertise to our students before they head up to New York next week to prep for their Broadway premier.
Darren Ritchie, who plays the White Knight and Jack, and whose Broadway credits include Les Miserables and Little Shop of Horrors, worked with our high school acting class this week.
Other cast members, including Jose Llana, Julius Rubio, Heather Parcells and Derek Ferguson, dropped in on the Patel Conservatory Youth Theater class last night. They offered students getting ready for The Wiz advice on how to prepare for auditions. Parcells, whose experience includes two years in A Chorus Line on Broadway, taught the students dance for two hours before taking the stage as part of the Wonderland ensemble.
They also talked about their own performance backgrounds, giving the kids invaluable exposure to working professionals in the industry.
In turn, the cast was inspired by the ambition of our students and the faculty. So, thanks to the cast of Wonderland for reinforcing the same principles that we teach in our classes!
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| From left, Llana, Ferguson, Rubio |
They also talked about their own performance backgrounds, giving the kids invaluable exposure to working professionals in the industry.
In turn, the cast was inspired by the ambition of our students and the faculty. So, thanks to the cast of Wonderland for reinforcing the same principles that we teach in our classes!
Rubio and Ferguson will work with Orange Grove Middle School today during an outreach class.
You can still catch Wonderland through Sunday. It’s your final weekend to see the show before it hits Broadway in April!
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