• General Information
• Faculty
• Board of Directors
• Contact

History

Stages Bloomington began with a fifteen minute pre-show performance before a production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” by Bloomington Music Works (BMW) in December 2005. (See video of behind the scenes by clicking on the image to the right. Quicktime required) The performance was well received. The next spring (2006), BMW offered a full-length production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast by 1st – 8th graders as BMW junior. During that period the BMW organization underwent a transition and became exlusively a youth music organization, changing its name to Stages Bloomington. In the spring of 2007, Stages Bloomington staged The Pied Piper for grades 1-4 and Honk! Jr. for grades 5-8. Summer camps were offered in 2006 and 2007 for grades 1-12, each culminating in a musical revue.

In the fall of 2007, weekly classes with instruction in singing, acting and dance for grades K-8 were added. This remains our formula for educational opportunities:

Fall classes—educationally based, with no performance aspect. The intent of the fall classes is to provide instruction in the areas of dance, acting and singing. The skills learned are tools, which can be applied in any performance or auditioning situation. These classes are offered for 1st-12th grades and are an opportunity to improve specific techniques separate from the pressures of putting on a performance.

Spring productions—Two separate productions are offered each spring, one for grades 1st-4th and one for grades 5th-8th. Auditions for these productions are usually held in November of the previous fall. The cast members get the full experience of being part of a stage production. There are also opportunities for older students to be involved in the production aspects, as rehearsal assistants, stage managers, backstage helpers, and many other positions. This gives experience of being in a production from an entirely different perspective.

Summer camp—Camp is an opportunity to experience a combination of both educational and production aspects. Classes include specialty master classes (see list under summer camp,) of which some do prepare the students for a final musical revue. Camp is offered for students in grades 1st-12th. Our faculty is comprised of college students, professionals and expert master class technicians, all of whom combine to give campers a vast knowledge of all aspects of musical theatre.

Faculty:

• Carla Aguilar
• Dianne Buzzell
• Kimberly Carballo
• Kevin Carmichael
• Christy Clark
• Megan Starnes
• Sherilyn Foley
• Pat Gleeson
• Brooke Ivey
• Maggie Olivo
• Debbi Ponella
• Matt Rhodes

Guest Instructors:

• Kwesi Ewusi Brown
• Brian Horne
• Meredith Mills Kiesgen
• Jeff Nelsen
• Adam Noble
• George Pinney
• Phil Ponella
• Nate Sutton
• Randy White

Board of Directors:
President: Alex May
Secretary: Ruth Boshkoff
Treasurer: Michelle Hoffman
Members:

• Jennifer Lloyd

Artistic Director (ex-officio): Debbi Ponella

Contact:

email: info@stagesbloomington.com