Students from Epiphany Cathedral School in Venice will be performing on the MainStage of Venice Little Theatre on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 11:00 AM. The performance is free and open to the public.

Venice Little Theatre and Epiphany Cathedral School join together to bring two classic children’s stories to life. The beginning students will perform Alice in Wonderland and the intermediate students will perform Winnie the Pooh.

The partnership between ECS and VLT, formed two years ago, allows Epiphany students to receive weekly theatre instruction during the school year. These classes then fulfill the students’ theatre arts credits for the year. The highlight for the students is being able to see their training and hard work rewarded with an opportunity to participate in a stage production and hear the applause of the audience.

This unique program is under the direction of VLT’s principal teacher, Brad Wages, a notable actor, director and choreographer. Wages says, "This is our third collaboration with ECS, and the students have been working very hard on staging, memorization and characterization. The students rehearse in their classrooms, but have the opportunity to perform on the VLT MainStage."

Wages goes on to say, "The VLT/ECS partnership has already proven to be a success; not only artistically, but also in the daily lives of the students. Each student comes to me as an individual, but they quickly bond together as a team to bring each element of the production together. It is always a joy to see the young actors focus ‘as one’ for the performance. Students continue to learn self expression, commitment and the importance of working as a group for a larger goal."

Sandy Davisson, VLT’s Director of Outreach and Education says that this partnership is a perfect fit for the theatre’s outreach goals. "We were already reaching over 8000 students in the county with performance outreach and we’ve always wanted to bring more of them right to the theatre as part of their school experience."

Irene Lynch, Principal of Epiphany Cathedral School says "Epiphany Cathedral School is blessed to have such a wonderful partnership with Venice Little Theatre. Our students have the opportunity to participate in all aspects of theatre under the direction of the talented and professional staff there. Not only do these kids receive an outstanding educational experience – they also receive hands-on instruction in set design, stage production, costumes, lighting, and stage presentation. We look forward to offering a performing arts program at ECS for many years thanks to Venice Little Theatre!"

The beginning actors who will appear in Alice in Wonderland are:

Olivia Grangeon

Cassidy Marryott

Sarah Graf

Andrea Brusger

Matthew Guerin

Toni Parisi

Maggie Flynn

Courtney Montgomery

Kaitlin Hertel

Erin Gribbin

Ann-Marie Diaz

Alexis Weiss

Alexa Simic

The intermediate actors who will appear in Winnie the Pooh include:

Molly Martin

Alex Tate

Joey Buncik

Courtney Coviello

Zak Evanicki

Jillian Sacco

Brian Finnerty

Seri Sipe

Katarina Moller

Julia Smith

Caleb Courville

Hayden Cormier