Great Christmas Gift for Students Interested in the Theater – "Next Step Prep" -The Academy for Musical Theatre for high school students by the Missoula Children’s Theater is taking applications for the next course.

Developed and operated in conjunction with the Missoula Children’s Theatre http://www.mctinc.org/ .

On June 22, 2009, NEXT STEP PREP—THE ACADEMY FOR MUSICAL THEATRE will welcome students to its first intensive 7-week summer academic session. Attendees will be offered classes in Acting, Singing, Dancing and other performance areas, eight hours a day, five days a week from June 22 to August 7. These students will receive two full-year fine arts credits to be transferred on to their local High School transcripts.

Certified teachers in each area will maintain their own syllabi and coordinate the classes taught by guest artists/teachers—recognized professionals from the worlds of Theatre, Film, Music, Dance and even Television. Weekly individual voice lessons will be included in the tuition. The summer Academy will be a residency program with room and board provided. Missoula students may attend the school and live at home; out-of-town students can choose to live with a local friend or relative if money or potential home-sickness is an issue.

The 7-week NEXT STEP PREP session allows kids to see how they feel about living away from home as they consider the nine-month school-year residency session, which will open its doors in the fall of 2010, in affiliation with Missoula County Public Schools. The summer session also gives students access to guest teachers who may not be available during the school-year. For example, we are working to forge relationships with Julliard and other highly respected fine arts universities and conservatories. The kids would have the advantage of working with faculty members from these schools as guest teachers and, of course, those teachers would get to know the NEXT STEP kids.

Finally, the summer academy creates the flexibility for students and parents to choose from any combination of three summers and two school years as they tailor their own agenda. For example, a student may enroll in one or two NEXT STEP PREP summer Academies, then join us for their entire Junior year, and have all of their credits transferred to their local High Schools so they can be home for the excitement of Senior year—Prom, Graduation, etc. In order to help facilitate the development of your individual course of study, we will be happy to provide information and counseling.

The students will have varied performance opportunities; preparation for these will be separate from classroom activities, but still a vital part of their learning experience. In addition, every other weekend NEXT STEP will provide a “Montana experience”—perhaps a bus trip to Yellowstone National Park, a picnic and waterfront activities on Flathead Lake, maybe even a fly-fishing lesson. The cost of these field trips will be included in the tuition.

CONTACT

For more information, please call Libby Schneider http://www.mctinc.org/index.php?option=com_contact&task=view&contact_id=163&itemid= , Curriculum Director; or Greg Boris http://www.mctinc.org/index.php?option=com_contact&task=view&contact_id=124&itemid= , Managing Director at (406) 728-1911.

Full Story: http://www.mctinc.org/nextstepprep-2