Getting Students Back on Stage
YBW members perform in filmed productions of The Stories of Peter and the Wolf & Hansel and Gretel (above) and The Nutcracker (below). Mike Nyman Photography.
Ensuring our conservatory students had a variety of unique performance opportunities remained a top priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. From radio plays and filmed ballets to plays adapted for Zoom, students were still able to feel the excitement and adrenaline that come with performing for an audience, albeit in a different way. As Meghan Montaner, president of the conservatory and education division, explained, “It was important that we maintain as many student performances as possible. While the conservatory primarily focuses on process over product, we know that performances are an integral part of the student experience.” Conservatory staff and faculty worked hard to determine new and exciting ways to showcase student work in a safe, socially distanced way. In the summer of 2020, we restructured our annual Musical Theatre Youth Summer Programs to successfully complete our Pre-Teen Program and two sessions of our Teen Program. The Teen Program presented Monty Python’s SPAMALOT – A Socially Distanced Concert-ish version, created specifically in light of the pandemic. Students rehearsed on Zoom for three hours each morning and visited various locations around central Massachusetts to perform socially distanced scenes each afternoon. The final production was presented drive-in movie style in the parking lot behind the theatre for students and their immediate family members. Pre-Teen students presented Monty page 10
Python’s SPAMALOT Young@Part version in an entirely virtual format for families and friends. In fall 2020, conservatory classes returned to the studios with both in-person and online offerings available. With the return of classes came the return of our resident performance companies: the Youth Ballet Company of Worcester (YBW) and the Youth Acting Company (YAC). Each company typically performs in at least three productions a year. While most of their traditional performance opportunities were off the table, new performance mediums provided a fun challenge for students and pushed them to grow as performers in new ways. Our YBW members enjoyed a variety of performances including filmed, socially distanced productions of The Nutcracker and The Stories of Peter and the Wolf & Hansel and Gretel. Students
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