Zoom Classes Forming

NextStage Productions is looking for interested 50+ year old participants to engage in fun, interactive classes on Zoom.  NextStage is a non-profit performing arts organization specializing in “artful aging” for active adults. With the current environment & restrictions, we are lucky to have Zoom as an excellent space for playing and performing Monologues (develop & presentation of short original/play monologues), Script in Hand Theatre (reading plays aloud while practicing “getting into character”) and Writing Courses, to name a few options.  The cost will be nominal based on the number of participants.  These classes will be given on Zoom by teachers with extensive backgrounds in the performing arts & teaching.  

This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy, engage, and enrich our lives with like-minded individuals without having to leave the protective comfort of your home.  The courses will be given weekly for a number of weeks depending on the class.  Check out NextStage Productions website: www.nextstagesantacruz.org to find out more about this non-profit in service to the community empowering 50+ year old students with creative expression.

Please respond to Marian Brown @ marian_brown@hotmail.com, directly if you are interested in taking a NextStage Productions class starting around mid-August 2020. We are currently trying to figure out the numbers to see if these classes will be doable as we pay our teachers for their time & talents.

Thank you and hopefully we will “see” you soon!  

**Zoom tutorials can be offered via phone or online before the classes begin to ensure you will be able to attend the classes.

**You do not have to be a resident of Santa Cruz County to participate!

Reader's Theater and Radio Shows

NextStage Productions is looking for actors to perform short plays, monologues and radio shows.  The rehearsals will be on Zoom and final presentation will be recorded for YouTube and made public.  Down the road, it would be hoped that we could perform these plays and monologues in front of an audience.

NextStage is an organization with a mission to engage, educate and enrich the lives of active adults fifty years and older through creative arts experiences.  Pre-Covid we were running drumming classes for those with Parkinson’s, Story Telling for patients with Alzheimers and performing musical revues for those in assisted living facilities as well as for private parties and corporate  events, which we plan to continue when the time is right. Post Covid we have produced our first Readers Theater with seven short plays.

Readers Theater encompasses short plays, skits, monologue presentations and Radio Shows (similar to Readers Theater but without visuals). This activity is new for NSP and is a new outreach program that we are looking to grow and develop.  We need your help. We need volunteer actors as well as anyone with radio experience or technical background to assist with actual production.

Volunteers are also needed for outreach to the community through this newsletter and our website blog. If you enjoy writing, and like our programs please contact us, as we need help. We are also looking for new plays, monologues and an editor for this newsletter, using Mail Chimp. Email contact: info@nextstagesantacruz.org

New Directions

In a world that is upside-down and in the face of ever-changing challenges, we can create new ways of living together!

UPDATE…

The production of The “TALK SHOW” about Moms was our first online creation and we are planning others.
The hour long show, a tribute to motherhood, was the result of a Zoom encounter, which eight talented actresses used to send a very special message to their families and friends on Mother's Day. 

In a casual improvisational form, the performers told fun stories, which included props and hats to express the uniqueness of their own mothers. The NSP actors included Jackie Defendis, Hannah Eckstein, Marigold Fine, Lynn Knudsen, Risa Lower, Ellen Mazaika, Judy Phillips, and Virginia Val-Leiva

Accolades and Thank Yous go to Risa Lower and Hannah Eckstein for directing and coaching, Lynn Knudsen for technical help with Zoom teleconferencing, and 
 KC Carlson for Video Post Production. 

COMING SOON
New Board member Sally Bookman is producing 7 short plays for our Readers Theater, Kathryn Adkins is planning a Voice class to go online and the NSP Players are designing practice schedules to provide Healthcare Facilities with a “Garden Party” Program performing outdoors, and a digital library of videos of past performances.

With Thanks to Shari Gallegos and Jackie Defendis, we have plans to offer our Children’s Show “Piggie Pie” to Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley elementary schools K-3 grades, when NSP receives the go-ahead.

Our Taiko Drumming Program for PWPs flourishes and we are researching a Speech and Movement addition to this effort. Great new strategies are being offered by TimeSlips for the cognitively impaired and we are looking for volunteers to help implement them.

Volunteers are also being interviewed for positions on the NSP Board. Let us know if you are interested. Thanks Again for ALL you do to support our work. All this said we need more volunteers!

People with Parkinsons Taiko Drumming Program in the News

This article on the NextStage Productions Taiko Drumming program recently ran in the Aptos Times

Abbot Square MusicFair

Abbot Square MusicFair show features NextStage Productions which specializes in “artful aging" for active adults through classes, performances, and shows designed to maintain health and wellness for older adults, 50+. NextStage Santa Cruz is part of a national network of programs that provide active performance venues for seniors to replace isolation and loneliness.

Show review by retired Broadway performer and NextStage Executive Director, Lynn Knudsen:

“This [event] features 15 performers and three original musical reviews, each different from the other in music styling and interpretation. First, you’ll be exhilarated by the opening number of a variety show called Razzle Dazzle with singing and dancing combined with magic. Young and old kids alike will be delighted.

Next is an imaginary trip through California "Cruz’n " California, along Route 66, and an encounter with the “little old lady from Pasadena.” And you’ll enjoy the hat and cane dance to open San Francisco’s Golden Gates, as done by our NSP Players & Dancers.

We wrap up the program, we call Ageless Arts, with a tribute to The Beatles. Yes, this was our favorite music back in the 1960’s. Our Magical Mystery Troupe will wow you with Beatles favorites like I Wanna Hold You Hand, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Twist, and Shout and other hits from the English Invasion. Don’t miss the show, it’s a revelation."

Performance is Sunday September 29, 2019 from 12:30-2:30pm. For more information about NextStage Productions, up-coming local shows, and classes through Cabrillo College go to www.nextstagesantacruz.org