Download PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: January 31

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: January 31, 2006
Media Contacts: Jacquelyn Rardin, Public Relations Manager
(425) 392-1942 x124
[email protected]
Frank Stilwagner, Director of Marketing
(425) 392-1942 x129
[email protected]
www.villagetheatre.org
VILLAGE THEATRE’S KIDSTAGE COMPANY TO DEBUT TRUST ME
Teens Write and Perform Poignant New Musical Addressing Issues
Impacting Today’s Teens
What:
Trust Me
Written by the 2006 KIDSTAGE Company
Songs by Brian Yorkey and Tim Symons
Directed and Choreographed by Kathryn Van Meter
Musical Direction by Orlando Morales
Where:
First Stage Theatre
120 Front Street, Issaquah
When:
March 3-12, 2006
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM
Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 PM
Tickets:
$8-$9
Box Office: (425) 392-2202 or
www.villagetheatre.org
Issaquah, WA —Village Theatre’s KIDSTAGE Company announces the debut of Trust Me, a new
musical written and performed by the 2006 KIDSTAGE Company comprised of 21 students age 14 to 19.
Filled with romance and revelation, humor and heart, Trust Me picks up the story of 2005’s
acclaimed Last Exit a year later, chronicling 12 months in the life of two friends at two different boarding
schools. Calvin (Connor Russell) has joined the spirited student body at a performing arts academy, a
troupe of aspiring stars whose enthusiasm is exceeded only by their competitive edge. Turner (Collin
Morris) is remanded to a military reform school, facing sadistic upperclassmen and fighting his own
demons, still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy that changed his life a year ago. Trust and
betrayal, new romances and old grudges, big dreams and dark secrets test the bonds of friendship and
bring startling new truths to light.
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Page Two…Village Theatre’s KIDSTAGE COMPANY Debuts Trust Me
Trust Me is directed and choreographed by Kathryn Van Meter (Village Theatre Mainstage
choreographer and actress) with musical direction by Orlando Morales (a KIDSTAGE alumnus) and
songs by Brian Yorkey (associate artistic director for Village Theatre and a KIDSTAGE alumnus) and
Tim Symons (resident musical director for Village Theatre and a KIDSTAGE alumnus). All of the artistic
staff has also worked as KIDSTAGE instructors.
The ensemble cast* includes: Sarah Davis, Anjuli Bates, Collin Morris, Danny Kam, Hiroki
Murakami, Nels Lind, Trevor Smith, Alexandra Laing, Connor Russell, Heather Nobis, Krista Gibbon,
Reba Buhr, Robert Guerrero, Katy Malone, Patrick Shelton and Alexis Clarke.
The writing team includes: Cameron Morris, Trevor Smith, Alyssa Wiblitzhouser, Lauren Colyer,
Kendra Phillips and Tyler Johnson.
Village Theatre’s KIDSTAGE Company is an ensemble comprised of 15 to 20 actors and five to
seven writers age 13 to 19, all who write and create new musical theatre works under the guidance of
professional theatre artists.
KIDSTAGE Company offers a fairly unique opportunity for teens. Most youth theatre
performance programs rehearse and perform an existing work. Often, these works are originally written
by adults to be performed by adults; most of the rest have been written or adapted by adults for children to
perform. Very few such works allow teenagers to play characters their own age, in their own time. Even
fewer programs mount productions written by young people themselves.
Through a yearlong process of study, improvisation, writing, rehearsal, and performance, the
KIDSTAGE Company creates and performs an entirely new, full-length musical theatre piece that
portrays contemporary teen characters, and addresses themes and issues relevant to the lives of teens
today.
“Through the collaboration of so many talented individuals we are able to create a new work that
reflects the interests, issues, and personalities pertinent to teenagers today,” said Trevor M. Smith,
KIDSTAGE Company writing team and cast member. “To be part of such an intense cooperative process,
and then see your work come alive on stage, is amazing for me.”
“I think this year’s new musical, Trust Me, is the best story we’ve told yet in the
KIDSTAGE Company program,” said Brian Yorkey. “The characters the actors have created and
the stories the writing team have written for them are really engaging -- complex, funny,
heartbreaking, and quite surprising.”
Trust Me will be at Village Theatre’s First Stage Theatre March 3-12, 2006. For more
information or to request interviews, please contact Jacquelyn Rardin at (425) 392-1942 ext. 124 or at
[email protected]. Photos will be available for download after February 8, 2006 at
http://www.villagetheatre.org/press_kidstage_fall-winter-productions.html.
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Page Three…Village Theatre’s KIDSTAGE COMPANY Debuts Trust Me
About Village Theatre KIDSTAGE:
Designed to encourage teamwork, personal integrity, self-esteem and a life-long appreciation for live theatre,
KIDSTAGE is a year-round performing arts training program in Issaquah, Everett and Stanwood for young people ages 3-20.
KIDSTAGE students participate in classes, workshops and full-scale KIDSTAGE productions. All performances are by
KIDSTAGE students and classes are taught by professional theatrical instructors.
About Village Theatre
Village Theatre is a leading producer of musical theatre in the Pacific Northwest. What began in 1979 with the vision of a small
group of dedicated theatre artists has grown into one of the region's best-attended resident theatres, with over 16,500 subscribers
to the current season and 165,000 projected total attendance, performances on seven stages in the Puget Sound area, youth
education programs serving over 53,000 young people, families, and schools annually, and a nationally recognized program that
has enabled the development of over 55 new musicals. Serving a still-growing, ever more diverse community, Village Theatre
has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years with the start of our contract as the resident performing and management
company at the Everett Performing Arts Center in 1998.
Mission of Village Theatre:

To be a regionally recognized and nationally influential center of excellence in family theatre

To promote a season of top quality productions

To commission and produce new musicals that achieve national exposure

To train young people in theatre skills for career opportunities and enriched lives

To develop a broad based appreciation for live theatre

To promote positive values through art
KIDSTAGE is made possible, in part, by Arts United, Citigroup Private Bank, City of Everett, City of Issaquah, Clear Image,
Fluke Inc, Kobe Foundation, Snohomish County, The Everett Clinic Foundation, Target, and US Bancorp Special Thanks to
Individual Sustaining Supporters: Ruth Waters, Mary Pigott & Roger Giesecke.
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*Cast subject to change prior to run.