Welcome to YTU Presents
Welcome to the Youth Theatre at the U (YTU) blog! Part of YTU's mission is to teach young people to communicate, collaborate, create and celebrate by experiencing, hands on, the theatre arts.
That’s what we hope to achieve with this blog: to communicate, collaborate, create and celebrate through an online exchange of stories from the artists and staff at YTU that will include a behind-the-scenes look at each of our productions. It is our hope this blog will initiate conversations between our audience and the artists.
We encourage and value your opinions and your comments so we can continue to provide your family with exceptional theater experiences.You can post your comments by simply clicking on the “post comment” link. Since we are a family organization, we will remove any comments that contain inappropriate content.
Through theatre, our students have the opportunity to celebrate not only the joy and magic of live performance, but life itself. We love having the opportunity to share this with you and your families. Theatre changes lives!
We are having a great first week at theatre school (really, it's been one of the best)! I wanted to remind you of a couple of things and advise you of others so, here I go:
- Today (Wednesday) is the last day for schedule changes.
- I need any performance conflicts emailed to me ASAP if you haven’t already. I would like to complete the performance schedule tomorrow. Performances are on July 1 and July 2 at 7 pm. These performances are free to the public and you can invite as many family and friends as you like. Kids traditionally come to watch the show on the night they don't perform.
- I reminded students today about “Stranger Danger”. Universities can attract a lot of transients and the U has its fair share. There is one in particular that has asked a Teen Aide questions about our program. The Teen Aide gave no reply, walked away and reported it to me because she felt uneasy about it. I’ve reminded your child to never walk anywhere alone, to trust their instincts, seek an YTU Instructor immediately if they feel uncomfortable or are approached in any way, and to not speak to anyone they don’t know. My hope was to instill confidence in the students -- not fear.
- Please remind your child that cell phones are allowed but should not be used in class. They will be confiscated if students are caught texting in class. I will return confiscated cell phones at the end of the day.
- T-shirts should be worn appropriately. We’ve had backwards t-shirt fashion statements and while it’s creative it’s also distracting in class.
- Students must wear their name tags and not share their tag with a friend.
- The vending machine in the West Institute is temperamental. If your child uses the machine and doesn’t get what he or she wanted they should not try to wrestle the machine. They won't win.
- Our days are packed with a lot of activity and kids can get tired by the end of the day. They are welcome to bring an extra snack to eat in their last company class for some added energy.
- We have two shows running at the Babcock Theatre for your family’s enjoyment. THE NO GIRLS ALLOWED CLUB (a staged reading) and GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES (a Youth Theatre Conservatory project). Both of these productions are free to the public. These two shows have an alternating performance schedule running Thursdays through Saturdays for the rest of this month. For more information about show dates and times check the Youth Theatre web page. www.youththeatre.utah.edu
Thank you for your support and your wonderful kids.
For three years I’ve played oboe in my school band. Music has always been a big part of my life (in addition to theatre) ever since I started playing piano many many years ago. When I decided to audition for Jungle Book, which is my second show with YTU, I had no idea that the musical director (Cathy, who also is our composer) would need someone to play the oboe for the show. While we, as a cast, were listening to the songs for the first time, Cathy told us that the members of the pit orchestra would be playing drums and piano. There would be an oboe, but she still needed to find and hire someone to play it. Jokingly, a few of us said that we played oboe. Cathy took us quite seriously, and had us bring in our instruments so she could hear us play. Since I had been cast as a Hunter, I had plenty of time during the show to both act and play oboe. The whole experience was very ironic because oboe is such a rare instrument, and not many people even know what it is! To have a musical director of a play I’m in ask me to play it for them was very surprising! I’m very excited to have both of my passions combined into one show!
Im not sure what the issue was with the website that prevented people from registering the past couple of days but the problem seems to be fixed. If you notice any issues please call the office and let us know. Thanks!
