Stage West Announces Outreach Programs

Stage West has exciting outreach programs slated to take place in the 2022/2023 Season. Below is an update on some of our most impactful offerings. More information can be found on our website: www.stagewest.org/outreach.

The Stayton Community Players:

Beginning in the fall of 2022, the theatre will formalize a partnership with The Stayton, a Retirement Community right here in Fort Worth, to start a performance-oriented class led by area actress and instructor, Linda Leonard. Interested residents of The Stayton will take part in the troupe, which will have small performances for other residents a few times a year. Stage West has long wanted to take part in a venture that facilitated access to performing arts for retirees as a positive creative and social outlet. An existing drama club at The Stayton was the springboard for this new collaboration.

Linda Leonard
Photo courtesy of Stage West

Ms. Leonard, an ever-loyal supporter of Stage West, has directed for the Dallas Library Project over the years, bringing theatre to many of our senior living communities. When that opportunity concluded, she began teaching acting at CC Young in Dallas, which included incorporating original works from the actors, Neil Simon, Carol Burnett sketches, radio plays, and a little Shakespeare, to name a few genres. She loves collaboration and enlivening and encouraging artists of all ages to find or rediscover their inner artist.

These classes will be a wonderful addition to the theatre’s current outreach offerings. Stage West will provide updates on the happenings of the Stayton Community Players through the outreach section of our website.

Playwriting Workshops with Rob Bosquez for K-12 students: 

Due to generous grant funding, Resident Educational Playwright and Outreach Instructor Rob Bosquez will once again provide playwriting workshops in K-12 theatre classrooms during the school day. One of our exciting new school partnerships is with North Side High School, a school that submitted and went on to have winning entries in last year’s annual Neighborhood Play Contest.

By providing in-school workshops to North Side High School, the Stage West staff hopes to continue to build strong relationships with Title I schools right here in our own Fort Worth community, while at the same time expanding to surrounding schools and districts. Mr. Bosquez has over 20 years of experience working with youth in all areas of performing arts, and feedback from both teachers and students has been positive. Over the years, many individuals have found his workshops to be a unique opportunity for the creative expression of students’ accomplishments, life experiences, struggles, and ideas.

Schools interested in participating in the workshops can contact: Education@stagewest.org

Design Apprenticeship Program: 

Stage West’s 2023 Design Apprenticeship Program is a pre-professional training program for college students in the areas of Sound, Scenic, and Costume Design (a fourth section for Stage Management is available this year). Participants will meet with a mentor in their respective design area to create work for a professional portfolio, and have a hands-on learning experience during the design process of a production.

The Design Apprenticeship Program launched in 2022 with the goal to give theatre-makers of tomorrow the vital skills needed to succeed in a professional theatre setting, thereby opening doors for college-age students to have future job opportunities in their area of interest. For the foreseeable future, the program will center around diversity, equity, and inclusion – with a strong emphasis on recruiting women, students of color, the LGBTQ community, and other under-represented groups.

Stage West will seek three students in each area of study as they actively engage in the pre-production and rehearsal process of season programming. Upcoming participating shows are Handle with Care, The Play That Goes Wrong and Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical. The students chosen for this program will have the opportunity to collaborate with Stage West on Festival of the Kid and the Summer Conservatory.

College students interested in participating in the Design Apprenticeship Program can reach out to Tonya@stagewest.org