Innovating SUMMER 2010
3110 North Sheffield Chicago, Illinois 60657
creation since 2009
Tel: 773.248.5900 Web: studio-be.org Email: info@studio-be.org Fax: 773.248.5901
Meet Our Team!
AARON SHAPIRO, Executive Director and co-founder of Studio BE as well as President of the Executive Board,
graduated with two B.A’s from Barat College of DePaul University where he received Departmental Honors in both
Economics and Acting/Directing. As a child he performed in several productions with the L.A. Opera Company,
the Los Angeles Children Chorus, and regularly worked as an extra in TV shows, commercials, movies, and music Performing Arts Summer Camp
videos. After college Aaron founded Oracle Productions and opened their 40-seat black box theatre in Wrigleyville
where he served 4 years as Artistic Director. He has worked professionally in Chicago as a director, stage manager,
Register Early! Space is Limited.
producer, actor, production manager, electrician, carpenter, sound technician, technical director, scenic designer see inside for details
and lighting designer for Collaboraction, American Theatre Company, The House Theatre, The Lincolnshire
Mariott, Shattered Globe, Theatre Wit, Devonshire Players, Downers Grove Players, Pegasus Players, Victory
Gardens Greenhouse and Biograph, Teatro Luna, Teatro Vista, Timeline, Next, About Face, The Entertainment
Project, T.U.T.A., Light Opera Works, Albany Park Theatre Project, and Pinebox Theatre.
TAMARA DREW, Artistic Director of Youth Programming, is also the Secretary of Studio BE’s Executive Board as
well as co-founder of the company as a whole. A graduate of Millikin University with a BA in both Theatre and
Sociology, Performer, social activist, educator, and mom, she incorporates values of commitment, hard work,
integrity, and ownership into every facet of her teaching philosophy. She has worked as a mentor and educator
at The Entertainment Project, Providence Catholic High School, The Beverly Arts Center, Union Park, the Skokie
Park District, Decatur Park District, The Stanford University, I Have a Dream Foundation in East Palo Alto, CA,
and various other workshops, Master classes, and events. She has also worked as a professional vocalist, Art
and Fashion Model, and competed at the National level in various beauty pageants and vocal contests. This
combined experience in conjunction with a passion for social justice and a unhindered love for the performing
arts and experiencing a child’s personal growth serves as Ms. Tamara’s springboard for her every professional
endeavor. Tamara Drew is Studio BE. Innovating Creation since 2009.
MAC VAUGHEY, Studio BE Executive Board Vice President, is a graduate of Brown University and recipeint of
the University’s Weston Prize for Theatrical Design. He is the resident Lighting Designer at the 16th Street
Theater in Berwyn, recently named the Chicago Reader’s “Best Emerging Theatre Company.” Mac is also an
Artistic associate for Teatro Luna, and Premiere Theatre & Performance, and a company member at Walkabout
Theatre. Additionally, Mac’s work has been seen at the American Theatre Company, Redmoon Theatre,
Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Collaboraction and Climax Nightclub. Mac has also worked with Infamous
Commonwealth, The Sinnerman Ensemble, Open Eye Productions and many other theatre companies. Mac also
serves as head of the ligthing department for the Next Theatre in Evanston, Light Opera Works, Timeline Theatre
Company, and the American Theatre Company. Mac can also be found at Chicago Spotlight Inc, as rental
manager.
ROB-ERIC WEST, is a graduate of Butler University with a BA in musical theatre including concentrations in
vocal performance and pedagogy as well as costume, hair and make-up design. He began his career at the
age of six as a member of a youth theatre studying with the acclaimed children’s theatre director and author
Nora MacAlvay, returning later in life as the company’s artistic director. Robert-Eric spent 13 years as a vocal
coach and musical theatre history instructor at Indiana University where he also founded the Monroe County
Children’s Theatre. For the past eight years he has supported his bohemian theatrical life as a make-up artist
and artist trainer for Prescriptives, Shu Uemura and Giorgio Armani Cosmetics at the national level and has had
his work appear on stage, screen and print. Spanning almost 40 years, his career has taken him from one coast Innovating
to the other but he will always call Chicago home. He has performed, designed, directed and taught workshops
and Master classes for the Dunes Arts Foundation, Candlelight, Festival Players Guild, Drury Lane, Oracle
Productions and Indiana Repertory Theatre, just to name a few. With his real passion in the art of performance,
Mr. West’s (as his students call him) drive is to instill in each of the young lives he helps to mold that nothing is
creation since 2009
out of their reach and his biggest joy is to see the breakthrough moment when a student becomes who they were StudioBE 3110 North Sheffield Chicago, Illinois 60657
truly meant to BE. Tel: 773.248.5900 Web: studio-be.org Email: info@studio-be.org Fax: 773.248.5901
SUMMER 2010 SUMMER 2010
Performing Arts Summer Camp 4
Welcome to StudioBE!
What is StudioBE?
StudioBE, NFP is something totally new. It is an intensive performance arts training facility.
It is an institution promoting social awareness and teaching progressive thinking. It is also a
melting pot of identities. It is a community. It is the mechanism of those who are dedicated
to providing learning, professionalism, and preparation for life and the world. It is the
clubhouse of young people with dreams, aspirations, and talents ranging from pole to pole,
developing and solidifying vales of integrity, commitment, education, and growth. Studio In keeping with our Studio BE mission, RAGTIME presents the human condition through an acute social scope. Set in turn of the century
BE facilitates a unique and stimulating state of existence in the journey of achieving our New York while America was simmering into the great Melting Pot it was said to become, Ragtime School Edition weaves together three
greatest personal potential. Come BE with us~ distinctly American tales — that of a stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant and a daring young Harlem musician
— united by their courage, compassion and belief in the promise of the future. Littered with historic figures and a variety of musical
presentations, Ragtime School Edition is an exciting opportunity for students to experience a piece of America’s history as a nation
and society, without ever cracking a book! With characters who are relatable to the Studio BE learning community in all of its diversity,
O u r M i s s i o n S t a t ement
students and audience alike will see themselves reflected, celebrating the age old struggle between maintaining tradition and creating
StudioBE is an ambitious, non-profit, performing-arts training and development facility independence through change in the pursuit of all encompassing happiness; The American Dream.
available to the public. Our in-house programs and classes are designed to be a high energy
and transforming experience all culminating in a series of final performance opportunities. Join us for this journey through the past, in pursuit of the future.
By connecting imagination with both discipline and integrity, we open doors that lead to Ragtime, School Edition at Studio BE. Dream Real
both self discovery and excellence that transcend the classroom. Our commitment to
proper technique, discipline, as well as individual attention cultivates an environment INTENSIVES require a greater commitment from our learners. INTENSIVES are a fancy way of transforming the classroom into a
that will foster creativity, self esteem, ambition and ultimately excellence in the area of professional rehearsal and workshop process. INTENSIVES are about learning how collaborative the nature of theatre really is. Learners
performing arts. will not only participate as performers, but will be involved in script and character development, stage magic, spectacle, multi-media
designs, and some pretty sweet fight choreography. You must BE enrolled in the INTENSIVE in order to audition!
Ragtime Performance Dates:
Previews: August 18 &19 Show Dates: August 20-22, 25-29
Table of Contents Rehearsals: Monday-Friday 1pm-5pm - June 21-August 6; Monday-Friday 9am-5pm - August 9-13,
Monday-Friday 1pm-9pm August 16-27
Program Philosophy ................................................................................2
Summer Classes .......................................................................................3 Program Fee is $1199, Pre-Registration Fee is $999. Scholarships are available for in need families and must be requested and
Summer Intensive ....................................................................................4 approved PRIOR to program start. Email aaron@studio-be.org for information about scholarships.
Meet the Instructors ...............................................................................5
Building friendships are an important part of the community at StudioBE.
Innovating Innovating
creation since 2009
creation since 2009
StudioBE 3110 North Sheffield Chicago, Illinois 60657 StudioBE 3110 North Sheffield Chicago, Illinois 60657
Tel: 773.248.5900 Web: studio-be.org Email: info@studio-be.org Fax: 773.248.5901 Tel: 773.248.5900 Web: studio-be.org Email: info@studio-be.org Fax: 773.248.5901
SUMMER 2010 SUMMER 2010
Performing Arts Summer Camp 3 Performing Arts Summer Camp 2
Summer Session:
classes
$120/week or $60/week when enrolled in Summer Intensive
Program Philosophy
Pre-Registration Rates end April 15th and are $100/class
StudioBE is a place where innovation is a high priority. Equipping our learners with a wide range of
specialized skills will ensure that their art will always have the ability to be new, fresh, and exciting. Courses
are appropriate for the seasoned performer and the first time learner alike. Requirements are as follows, in
Who am i?
no particular order: Focus, respect for others, a mind that is wide open, and a desire to grow-in any number How do i know?
of ways. StudioBE educators are interested in equipping our learners for success in the arts, in their social what do i do?
development, and in their communities-wherever they may be throughout their lives. During our summer
session, all skills studied during the morning workshop hours are relevant and applicable to the production
of Ragtime, which rehearses in the afternoon. Here is the material we will be working with this session:
Who am I? How do I know? What do I do? Three short questions addressing identity- Short but
BE
Musical Theatre Review June 21-25, 2010, M-F, 9am-12pm Spectacle July 26-30, 2010, M-F, 9am-12pm slippery questions; questions that are as relevant in the lives of our learners here at Studio BE
Class Description: A tour through the vault of American musical Class Description: We at Studio BE are all about innovation and as they are to us, and you, for that matter. Studio BE offers an environment where self-discovery
theatre, this class will explore choral vocal performance, dance, development of special skills, and we know you are too :) This is not only supported, but is also facilitated. A script is nothing more than ink on a page. It is
energy, and ensemble presentation quality. Contrasting subject week, learners will dabble in spectacle oriented performance art. BE Community
matter, musical styles, and choreography are the focus of this class Always lovely for that pesky “special skills” section of audition the skeleton of a story. Performers must breath life into the piece and must do so in a variety of
for the musical stage. Learners need to be equipped with a folder, applications, suspending from silks, walking on stilts, juggling, and ways. The lives, experiences, backgrounds, identities, and perspectives of our learners matter. BE Pertinent
a pencil, and dance shoes (without taps) spectacle in general is just cool. Seriously. Best enjoyed by learn- Our innovative lesson plans incorporate social involvement with the basics of performance. This BE United
ers of all backgrounds, experience, and interest levels. Curious? BE Relevant
approach helps develop the confidence to take risks and the conviction to grow and participate
Video Design June 28-July 2, 2010, M-F, 9am-12pm Check it out.
in the world around us. Any good story revolves around a dramatic question. Studio BE is a BE Connected
Class Description: Students create video footage for the summer
production alongside the Studio BE Video Production Team. Skills Technical Theatre August 2-6, 2010, M-F, 9am-12pm place where we invite everyone to ask the biggest questions. And we ask them together. To BE or BE Allied
of story-telling, energy, and ensemble work, as well as working in Class Description: This week will teach elements of technical BE Linked
not to BE? That is the question.
front of the camera will be work shopped in this week of vibrant theatre, shining a light on the backstage approach to performance BE Inspired
vivacious video production. art. Used to facilitate technical prep and student training for the
end of summer show, Ragtime. Everyone’s a techie-they just don’t BE Innovative
Dance Lab: Tap July 5-9, 2010, M-F, 9am-12pm know it yet :) BE Imaginative
Class Description: Basic tap technique and frequently used steps BE Energetic
will be taught during this one week half-day dance intensive. Ragtime Tech Week August 9-13, 2010, M-F, 9am-5pm STUDIO BE IS AN AMBITIOUS PERFORMANCE ART TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FACILITY.
Learners will become familiar with a basic tap dance warm-up, This entire week will be devoted to the implementation of techni- Studio BE programming is designed to be the launching pad for learners who wish to pursue BE Passionate
foundational technique, and learn a cumulative routine. cal aspects of the Studio BE production of Ragtime. Set, lights, a professional and/or academic career in the performing arts, as well as experience personal BE Comedic
sound, props—the whole shebang is introduced, added and
development and social awareness. Introducing the nitty-gritty of performance basics to learners
Stage Combat July 12-16, 2010, M-F, 9am-12pm blended. Show rehearsal is ALL DAY EVERY DAY THIS WEEK.
Class Description: An exploration of combat for the stage, this one Just in case you didn’t notice the time change :) There will be no at an early age will give them an advantage over their contemporaries, as well as an accelerated
week workshop will teach SAFETY and basic fighting techniques. morning workshops during Ragtime tech week. understanding of the art form from which to build and flourish.
Learners will engage in daily combat practice leading to a choreo-
graphed ensemble fight. Splendid and safe :) Improv August 16-20, 2010, M-F, 9am-12pm
Class Description: Here we are in the Second City—how can we
Dance Lab: Choreography July 19-23, 2010, M-F, 9am-12pm NOT teach you Improv! Instructed by Studio BE resident group
Class Description: Students learn routines from a range of dance pH, basic improvisation skills, scene building, working with an
social involvement
development
styles sampling from jazz, hip hop, and lyrical ballet. And how ensemble, and basic hilarity will be instilled :)
could we call this course “Choreography” without letting you do a
little of your own? Learners become artists in this 20 hour work-
shop on dance technique and artistic movement composition.
Puppetry August 23-27, 2010, M-F, 9am-1pm
Class Description: This class will explore movement, creative confidence
expression, teamwork, and focus through the art of puppetry.
awareness
flourish
Learners will study three person Bunraku puppetry, shape and time
through shadow puppetry, and will finally make a practice puppet
they can take home and get to know. Students will come away
Innovating having a new appreciation and awareness of themselves, their Innovating
creation since 2009
collaborators, and the objects around them.
creation since 2009
StudioBE 3110 North Sheffield Chicago, Illinois 60657 StudioBE 3110 North Sheffield Chicago, Illinois 60657
Tel: 773.248.5900 Web: studio-be.org Email: info@studio-be.org Fax: 773.248.5901 Tel: 773.248.5900 Web: studio-be.org Email: info@studio-be.org Fax: 773.248.5901