Education & Community Programs
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SCHOOLS
TEENS
ADULT EDUCATION
COMMUNITY EVENTS
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Our strong commitment to education and community programs has resulted in growing array of activities tailored for interested patrons of all ages.
To book tickets for your school group, register for a class, or for more information on education or community programs, please email education@pcs.org or call 503-445-3795.
Schools
Stage Door
Our Stage Door program seeks to provide all young people with opportunities to experience and directly participate in the art of high-quality, professional theater in a context that supports their education. Focusing on youth ages 12-18, the program offers:
- Discounted tickets to PCS Thursday matinee and weekday evening performances.
- FREE tickets available to Title 1 schools and social service agencies.
- FREE pre-show workshops for students, providing additional background on plays.
- FREE resource guides available on this site.
- FREE post-play discussions with the cast following each Thursday matinee (excludes holiday shows)
Student group tickets are $15 each and groups are encouraged to attend all appropriate productions on any Thursday noon matinee or Tues-Thurs evening performance. Below are some suggested dates for teachers desiring to bring a student group.
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2011-2012 Season
Black Pearl Sings! [grades 9-12]
Noon matinees: May 3*, 10*, 17*, 24*, & 31
It Ain't Nothin But the Blues [grades 7-12]
Noon matinees: May 31, June 7*, 14, & 21
2012-2013 Season
Sweeney Todd - Main Stage
Noon matinees: Sep 27, Oct 4, 11, & 18
Age recommendation: grades 9-12
The Body of An American - Ellyn Bye Studio
Noon matinees: Oct 11, 18, 25, & Nov 1
Age recommendation: please inquire within
A Midsummer Night's Dream -Main Stage
Noon matinees: Nov 29, Dec 6, 13, & 20
Age recommendation: grades 4-12
The Santaland Diaries- Ellyn Bye Studio
Noon matinees: Dec 6, 13, & 20
Age recommendation: please inquire within
I Love to Eat- Main Stage
Noon matinees: Jan 17, 24, & 31
Age recommendation: grades 9-12
Lungs- Ellyn Bye Studio
Noon matinees: Feb 7, 14, 21, & 28
Age recommendation: grades 9-12
The Whipping Man- Main Stage
Noon matinees: Mar 7, 14, & 21
Age recommendation: grades 9-12
Clybourne Park- Main Stage
Noon matinees: Apr 18, 25, & May 2
Age recommendation: grades 9-12
The People's Republic of Portland- Ellyn Bye Studio
Noon matinees: May 9, 16, 23, & 30
Age recommendation: grades 9-12
Ella- Main Stage
Noon matinees: June 6, 13, & 20
Age recommendation: grades 9-12
*denotes heavily booked or sold-out performance. Please inquire for the most up-to-date information.
Seating is based on availability. To book tickets for your school group or for more information on education program participation, please email education@pcs.org or call 503-445-3795.
Visions & Voices
Visions & Voices brings professional actor/writers into public high school classrooms for free, intensive residencies during which the artists spend five to six hours each week teaching students about the basic elements of theater and assisting each of them in writing a short play.
Designed to meet Oregon state benchmarks for Arts and for English/Language Arts, the program’s curriculum addresses theatrical conventions and dramatic structure, as well as acting, writing and constructive critical response.
The Visions & Voices program culminates each school year with free, open-to-the-public readings of plays selected from all the residency sites, performed by professional actors and presented at the Gerding Theater at the Armory.
V&V Spring Playwriting Showcase--Join us!
Monday, June 4 at 7pm
Gerding Theater at the Armory, Main Stage
Visions & Voices is made available to a limited number of Portland area public high schools without charge. If you are interested in bringing Visions & Voices to your school, please call 503-445-3793.
Resource Guides
PCS prepares resource guides for each production that provide detailed information on the artists and world of the play. The guides are constructed for students of all ages and are designed to spark conversations around themes and elements found in each play. This link will take you to a list of this year's guides as well as an archive of past offerings.
Fundraising Program
Looking to raise money for a school field trip, school supplies or another program at your school or non-profit? Well, look no further! PCS has created a brand new fundriasing program to help you to raise money for your cause. No more buying candy bars and reselling them door-to-door. No more gift catalogs, gift wrap and order forms. No more… well, you get the idea. Now you can sell theater tickets using one simple code word to raise money for your school or non-profit.
Please CLICK HERE for more information about the program and to apply.
Teens
In addition to the Stage Door and Visions & Voices programs serving school groups, PCS reaches out to individual Teens in the Portland metro area with our Teen Council and Summer Intensives.
" Like" our PCS TEENS & ALUMNI Facebook page to stay tuned on all the goings-on!
Teen Council
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The Portland Center Stage Teen Council is a group of Portland area Teens who desire to further their involvement with the professional theatre community and gain opportunities for advanced theater experiences. In addition, council members serve as ambassadors to their peers. Activities are wide and varied. They can include, but are not limited to, observing tech. rehearsals, interviews with cast members, training workshops given by working professionals, parties and even parades. Council members work with the support of PCS Education staff to plan and execute activities. We meet on the first Sunday of every month October - June. Participation and attendance are the only pre-requisite for inclusion on the Teen Council. Members earn free tickets to PCS productions through participation.
Summer Intensives
Let Portland Center Stage introduce you to the confidence-building fun of learning performance skills in a stimulating, supportive environment. Perhaps you are a rising star who could use an entrée into the professional performing arts community through the city’s flagship theater. Perhaps you are a novice performer who is looking for the chance to hone your natural abilities. Our teaching professionals, drawn from Portland’s theater elite, eagerly await the chance to share their experience with you.
Click here to read up on our fabulous 2012 Instructors!
Session I: Advanced Acting and Audition
For students entering grades 11 & 12.
Dates: June 18 – June 29, Summer 2012
Monday through Friday, 9am to 4pm
Tuition: $650
This intensive focuses on advanced character building, scene study, and relationship work. In addition, students will leave the intensive with the ultimate audition tools in their back pocket: two contrasting monologues and cold reading skills. Teens entering grades 9 & 10 may be considered for participation through application. Call 503-445-3795 for more information
Session II: Musical Theater
For students entering grades 9-12.
Dates: August 6 – August 17, Summer 2012
Monday through Friday, 9am to 4:30pm
Tuition: $675
Experience the excitement and fun involved in creating musical theater. This two-week full day Musical Theater intensive is for all teens interested in becoming “triple threats”. Working with professional musical theater performers, participants will explore all aspects of musical theater, including dance styles, vocal performance, and acting for the musical stage. The two week intensive will culminate with a presentation for friends and family.
Session III: Entrance to Professional Theater
For students entering grades 9-12.
Dates: August 6 – August 17, Summer 2012
Monday through Friday, 9am to 4:30pm
Tuition: $650
A two-week, full-day comprehensive theater training program for all teens desiring an intensive theater experience. Under the guidance of professional actors, directors, and designers, participants will explore all aspects of the professional contemporary stage including monologues, scene study, directing, playwriting, stage combat and stage craft. While this session is suitable for students new to theater, it is also an excellent building block for the ambitious Teen wishing to develop stronger ties to the professional community. The Intensive culminates with a presentation for friends and family.
To enroll or for more information, email education@pcs.org or call Sarah Mitchell, Education & Community Programs Coordinator, at 503-445-3795.
Adult education
Theater and Business classes at Portland Center Stage offer unique theater training and related studies for people at all degrees of involvement with the living stage. Our courses are taught by exceptional teachers drawn from Portland’s diverse community of talented professionals, many of whom are familiar to you from PCS’s productions and programs. Improve your business skills by enrolling in our Art of Presentation class, unleash your inner dramatist by joining a Playwriting course or take the stage in one of our Acting classes. Whether you’re honing skills you already have or nurturing new ones, PCS has a class for you.
Please CLICK HERE for more information on Business Classes at PCS.
No adult classes are currently open for registration. Check back often, as we regularly update this site!
Community programs
We are constantly creating new programming to enhance your experience of PCS and our productions. Please check back often for upcoming events. and CLICK HERE to download “Beyond the Proscenium”—a guide to creating a successful ecology for community engagement.
Ideas in Play
Free public programs that inspire connections around theater and the arts, sustainability, history, and community. How can we use the lens of the theater to explore who we are, what we believe and how we connect to one another?
Women & Race--A series of discussions presented by PCS & the YWCA
Sunday June 3, 10, & 17 immediately following the 2pm matinee
Ellyn Bye Studio
In conjunction with Portland Center Stage's production of Black Pearl Sings! (running Apr 24-Jun 17), PCS and the YWCA are excited to offer a series of discussions on women & race. Join local writers, academics, and social justice advocates as they moderate conversations on themes and issues found in the play. Please feel free to join us for one, two, or all three of the discussions. You do not need a ticket to the show to join the post-show discussion; just show up around 4pm to the Ellyn Bye Studio. These discussions are FREE.
Improv Night
Monday, June 11 at 8pm
Ellyn Bye Studio
HOW MUCH: $5 BUY TICKETS HERE --> Tickets are also available at 503.445.3700 or in person at the box office
Join a quartet of Portland’s finest improv theater performers in an exploration of the themes of blues music and history. This improvised show will be inspired by Portland Center Stage's mounting of It Ain't Nothin But the Blues, and the local dream team of Shelley D’Arcy, Brad Fortier, Nicholas Kessler, and Shelley McClendon will explore the highs and lows of characters and relationships through the lens of the blues. This show promises to be inspiring, hilarious, and surprising. These four performers are a rare gem of an ensemble, making this one-time-only performance not-to-be-missed!
The Armory Galleries
Gary Houston Shows Us the Blues: AN EXHIBIT OF LIMITED EDITION, HAND-PULLED CONCERT POSTERS
On the PCS Gallery Level In honor of It Aint Nothin' but the Blues
Through July 13, 2012
An exhibit of chalk pastels by Laura Walker Scott and Original Zimbabwe Art
On the Studio Level in honor of Black Pearl Sings!
Through July 13, 2012
Curated by Pearl Gallery & Framing
Prologues and Q&As
Prologues are free, pre-performance introductions to most Main Stage plays for all patrons attending that night's performance. Led by PCS staff members in the back of the Main Stage auditorium, Prologues are offered on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings during the regular run from 6:55-7:10pm. Q&As are informal conversations with the cast and PCS staff about the production, following every Thursday noon matinee performance. Excludes holiday productions.
The cast of Shakespeare's Amazing Cymbeline (2012) following a Thursday matinee.
Resource Guides
PCS prepared resource guides for each production that provide detailed information on the artists and world of the play. The guides are constructed for students of all ages and are designed to spark conversations around themes and elements found in each play. This link will take you to a list of this year's guides as well as an archive of past offerings.
The Portable Backstage Tour
PCS’s Portable Backstage Tour is a perfect opportunity for your organization to learn about what it takes to put together a professional theater production. Let theater professionals take your group on a private virtual tour through our state-of-the-art facility, giving you an in-depth look at how we build costumes, sets and create new worlds onstage. We’ll bring samples of a costume made by our costume shop so your group can see in detail the work that goes into making each costume by hand. Your personal tour guide has an extensive background in theater, and can answer all of your burning questions, like “How do you find your actors?” and “Why do you mop the set floor with Cola Cola®?”
Please CLICK HERE for the program cost, requirements and information on how to book a portable backstage tour.
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PCS’s 2011-2012 Education & Community Programs are generously supported by:
Oregon Arts Commission
Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art
James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation
U.S. Bank
Autzen Foundation
Macy's
with additional funding from:
Evelyn Crowell
Sue Horn-Caskey and Rick Caskey
H.W. & D.C.H. Irwin Foundation
Vikki Mee & Steve Cox
and the
National Endowment for the Arts
