Theatri-gals
Do you enjoy acting, dancing, singing, writing or do you do it all? Do you have an outgoing or creative personality or like to be a leader? Are you a “drama queen”?
If so, it’s time to show us what you got! No experience is necessary to audition for this program, but if you do have experience, that is great too. All you need is to be willing to participate and to be ready for some fun!
The Girl Scout’s of Nassau County’s Theatri-gals program is a unique opportunity for Girl Scouts who are interested in theater and performing to gain valuable playmaking experience while making many new friends. This is a program that utilizes team-building, improvisation, creative play and each girl’s individual talents in a one of a kind experience.
We are excited to offer this opportunity once again for the 2012-2013 year, the fourth year of the program.
And what would all of this work be without a show? This theater piece will be performed for families, friends and other Girl Scouts.
WHO: Girl Scout Juniors and Girl Scout Cadettes
DATE: Auditions will take place on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 OR Wednesday, October 10, 2012; you only need to attend one audition date
TIME: Between 4pm and 6pm; you will be assigned an audition time
PLACE: GSNC Service Center, 110 Ring Road W, Garden City
COST: $35** per Girl Scout (includes a t-shirt and patch upon completion)
(**To be paid only if accepted into the Program)
REQUEST MORE INFORMATION AND/OR AN AUDITION SLOT: Contact Melanie Trainor-Gomez, Director of Theatri-gals at 516.741.2550, ext.268
IMPORTANT:
If selected for Theatri-gals, rehearsals will take place once a week up until the performance dates, from October 2012 through at least March 2013. There will be a performance in March/April 2013.
Please note: Girls will be expected to attend at least 80% of rehearsals to remain in this program.
We are also looking for a few older girls to assist “behind the scenes”. If interested, please contact Melanie for further information.
Girl Scouts who meet participation requirements will receive a Theatri-gals patch, which will be mailed to you after show date. Any questions, please contact Melanie Trainor-Gomez at (516) 741-2550, x-268
About the Theatri-gals Program
The 2012-2013 year will mark the 4th year of GSNC’s Theatri-gals program. Theatri-gals (pronounced like “theatrical” but with a “gal” at the end) is Girl Scouts of Nassau County’s theater program, unique in that the girls work together to create a one of kind play using the Devised Theatre method.
In 2011-2012, Theatri-gals was comprised of a group of 30 girls, in 4th-8th grade, who auditioned for and were selected to be a part of this program. The girls who have been selected for the past 3 years have had many talents, including acting, singing, dancing and writing. This is an unique and exciting opportunity for girls who are interested in theater and performing to gain valuable playmaking experience while making many new friends.
Last year, as a group, the Theatri-gals devised their 2 one act plays based on the following themes that were important and relevant to them; friendship, bullying, rumors, judging others and the importance of accepting others’ differences. These themes are not only relevant to the girls in the program they are also universally relevant to all girls.
For a number of months, the Theatri-gals work on improvisation, character study and development and story formation and development. The Theatri-gals program builds self-esteem and self-confidence, hones communication skills, strengthens problem-solving and critical thinking skills, allows girls to develop a positive work ethic and pride in a job well done, and helps girls develop a sense of quality task performance and goal-setting. This program has proven the positive impacts the arts can have on a child’s development and understanding of the world around them.
AND IT’S FUN!!!!
Who is the Director?
Melanie Trainor-Gomez has served as Program Assistant at the Girl Scouts of Nassau County for the past seven and a half years. Due to her love for and her experience in theatre and arts education, she conceived and built the Theatri-gals program for GSNC in 2009. Melanie received her Bachelor’s degree in Educational Theatre from New York University. She was selected then and is still a member of Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education and is also a member of the Sigma Kappa National Sorority. In the 2010-2011 season of Theatrigals, Melanie helped GSNC secure a grant from the Huntington Arts Council for the Theatri-gals program.
Melanie has worked as Education Associate in the Education Department of the Capital Repertory Professional Regional Theatre in Albany, at which time she created and provided many in-school lesson plans to both alternative and suburban middle and high school students and ran a school break program called ART Break. She has served as Assistant to the Executive Director, advocating for arts education, at AEMS, Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance. As an Education department intern at the Broadway theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Melanie worked on projects for the Broadway productions of Cabaret, Tony Award ® winner for Best Revival of a Musical for that season (starring Neil Patrick Harris), Nine, (starring Antonio Banderas and Jane Krakowski), The Look of Love – The songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, “Master Harold"...and the boys by Athol Fugard (starring Danny Glover), A Day in the Death of Joe Egg by Peter Nichols and Moliere’s Tartuffe. She also interned in the Education Department of the Off-Broadway theatre company, Manhattan Theatre Club and at Bernard Telsey Casting, working on projects for the casting of Broadway’s Rent and on some national commercials.
Melanie has taught creative drama and scene study classes to children at the Broadhollow Theatre Company. She has also been acting since the 5th grade; her most recent acting work has included performing 3 monologues in Comedy Tonight, an Evening of Comedy with Theatre II of Glen Cove and as the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz at the Baltimore Children’s Theatre. Melanie has performed in many plays and musicals at Glen Cove High School, New York University and Theatre II of Glen Cove including The Music Man, The Crucible (Mercy Lewis), The Importance of Being Earnest (Gwendolyn), The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder (Mrs. Antrobus) to name a few. Melanie Directed/choreographed Annie, Jr. at the Broadhollow Theatre Company and Assistant Directed Route 66 at the Sid Jacobsen JCC. While a student at NYU, she served as the Artistic, Education & Casting Director for a Long Island youth theatre company she co-founded, Dark Horse Theatricals. For Dark Horse, Melanie directed Brighton Beach Memoirs, directed/choreographed/wrote the dialogue for Broadway through Time and wrote and directed the children’s play Being Me.