Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! youth summer program accepting applications

Want to sing? Love to dance? For the 15th year, the summer musical theatre program Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! is offering summer programs open to youths aged 9–19.

This summer, two sessions will be available at the Jewish Community Centre (950 West 41 Ave.). Sessions run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays from July 7–30 and again from August 4–27. The cost per session is $550 for JCC members, and $650 for non-members.

During previous years, the program has attracted hundreds of participants from across Canada, the U.S., Austria, and Israel.

For serious theatre buffs, ten extra finishing school sessions will be offered on the same dates from 3:15–5:15 p.m. Students will receive instruction in audition techniques and the presentation of monologues and songs as well as participating in intensive dance workshops and a final audition with well-known local theatre professionals. The 10 two-hour classes cost an additional $150.

All classes will be taught by professional, working instructors including directors, musicians, choreographers, and actors. Participants will learn about other behind-the-scenes aspects of musical theatre including vocal technique, choreography, set construction, makeup, and costuming.

Program director Perry Ehrlich—a pianist, writer, and composer himself—recently received an Ovation Award as well as the Canadian Bar Association’s Community Service Award for his dedication to working with children in theatre.

Each student participates in the sessions’ final production, held at the JCC’s Norman Rothstein Theatre, as Ehrlich writes an original script every year to match the number of students. This year’s script—which he co-wrote with David Hudgina, a teacher at Studio 58—is called Wild Wild West Side Story and is based on the Survivor TV show. Past productions have included music from Cats, Annie, Phantom of the Opera, and Mamma Mia.

Deadline for registration is April 1. For more information and application forms, call the JCC at 604-257-5111 or visit the centre’s Web site.