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Whitin Community Center’s Youth Outreach Program Production “The President’s New Clothes”
Whitin Community Center’s Youth Outreach Program Production “The President’s New Clothes”
Brett MacGowan, Assistant Executive Director and Outreach Director of the Whitin Community Center, has announced performances of the Youth Outreach Program’s summer theater production, “The President’s New Clothes” will be held on Friday, July 27th at 7:00 pm and Saturday, July 28th at 1:00 pm. The venue for both performances is St. Peter’s Parish Hall at 39 Church Avenue in Northbridge, MA. This production is sponsored in part by Commonwealth National Bank.
“The President’s New Clothes” is a musical by Stephen Murray. The production is set in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, but in this play, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is not exactly a fashion capital, especially since absent-minded President William Lee is running the country. He’s too busy with domestic and international politics too worry about whether his striped tie clashes with his plaid pants and argyle socks. Even his devoted wife and First Lady, Holly Preston-Lee, is forgiving of her husband’s forgetfulness and sloppy appearance, knowing it’s what’s inside that really counts.
But the press sure takes a stab at the chief-of-state’s wardrobe, as does his election opponent, Horace Grinchley, and Horace’s overly-ambitious campaign manager, Myrna Snerd. Myrna appoints a couple of staff members, Dewey, Cheatem and Howe, to pose as wardrobe consultants to strip President Lee down to his “bare” essentials, and have him deliver a nationally televised debate in an “invisible” suit. The new suit is allegedly only visible to honest, trustworthy and loyal constituents.
Add to the campaign fever a salami-hoarding terrorist, Yesiah Minsain; Vice President Green, an environmental fanatic; plus a patriotic, chaotic chorus of reporters, White House staff, and secret service agents, and you have a musical comedy that is sure to have the audience laughing out loud!
The Whitin Community Center’s free Summer Youth Theater program exposes participants to theater arts from beginning to end. The objective of this free eight-week intensive mini-program is to provide children during the months of summer with a stimulating opportunity to learn about the theater arts. The program is designed to expose children to the theatrical arts from all aspects, from acting to choreography to promotion and set design. Each child who participates has to agree to the rehearsal schedule and a behavioral contract. The end result is involving children in the arts that allow them to grow not only in self-confidence but also to develop artistically and learn from positive role models. Twenty eight children have participated in preparing for this summer’s production.
Kristy Gaska, Assistant Outreach Director, states, “The children have been working very hard on this production. We sincerely hope that people in our Blackstone Valley community will attend one of the performances and support the Whitin Community Center’s important Youth Outreach program.”
Tickets for the performance are $6 for adults and $4 for children under 12. Tickets will be available at the door or ahead of time at the Rockdale Youth Center, 2219 Providence Road, Northbridge. Proceeds will benefit the Whitin Community Center’s Youth Outreach program.
The Whitin Community Center, the Blackstone Valley’s only full-service family recreational non-profit organization, initiated the Youth Outreach Program in 1996 in an effort to open the door to all children, independent of fee or membership, to enjoy the benefits of a weekly recreational program on Saturdays. That program has been expanded in the years since to include a Summer Youth Theater Program and an after school Youth Center in the Rockdale section of Northbridge, MA. The goals of the Youth Outreach Program are to encourage children, ages 8-13, from all socio-economic backgrounds to play together, to develop friendships, to build self-worth, to develop a sense of fair play, team spirit and cooperation in a safe and supervised environment.
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