A Message from Deb and Buzz

“Theatre is where your story meets my story and becomes our story.”

This was a lesson passed down to us by one of the greats—the late Oran Sandel (of Living Stage fame) who helped develop our Life Stories programs. He told us he learned it from one of his mentors, who learned it from one of their mentors … and so on. It’s one of those beautiful, fundamental truths about theatre: whether we are watching it or doing it, it connects us to our humanity and therefore to every other human.

Connection. Isn’t that what we’ve been craving for two years? Here at The Theatre Lab we’re proud that we’ve been able to provide it in various forms – masked, online, “socially distanced” – and we’ve been overjoyed that our students and supporters have continued to show up through all the hard times. Because you can’t keep theatre people from getting together, one way or another.

So, this is just a note to say how much we hope we’ll see you around this summer. We’ve filled this summer (our 30^th!) with opportunities for students and friends of The Theatre Lab to get together and enjoy each other’s company. Some of those opportunities are live and in person, others are virtual, and all are offered with safety in mind. But also with community in mind – with camaraderie, drama, comedy, and fun in mind.

• We’re thrilled to be featuring some of the amazing alums of our teen musical theatre programs in an Alumni Cabaret on June 18. No charge! Many of these phenomenal adults who used to be phenomenal teens are now working as professional performers – and all of them will knock your socks off.
• Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about a summer barbecue to celebrate all the wonderful folks who have passed through our doors in 30 years. Again, free of charge. Just come hang out. The date is not finalized yet, but we’ll let you know.
• Other free or super-low-priced performances this summer include the final performance of our Art of Cabaret class on June 4; a very special joint presentation of the Theatre Lab and our extraordinary partner Life Pieces to Masterpieces, featuring some products of our Life Stories work, on June 25; and presentations from our littlest thespians throughout the summer.

All the usual summer activity will keep our space humming, from those little thespians in their multi-themed drama camps, teens intensively studying and performing plays and musicals, and adults honing their skills in our wide variety of adult courses.

We’re pleased to announce that for the first time, everyone who signs up to take one of our summer adult classes will get a free ticket to one of our teen shows (which are always phenomenal, by the way).

We haven’t given up on virtual experiences entirely, though! Although we all love being in the room together, we’ve learned that connection can happen on Zoom, too. Many of our classes – particularly those that focus on solo material or on-camera work – seem to work just as well or even better on a screen, and online classes open up a whole new world of training opportunities for people with disabilities and others for whom the need to come downtown can constitute a real barrier to participation. So we still offer online classes, and plan to keep offering them.

And this year’s Dramathon is online, too! We hope you’ll join us on June 13 for this super-fun, star-studded annual event from the comfort of your home, and support our summer camp scholarship fund at the same time.

Let’s get together–outside, inside, virtually and in-person. We look forward to making some new stories—our stories–with you.

–Deb and Buzz