The Herberger Young Scholars Academy's
Performance Outreach Program (POP)
The objective of the Performance Outreach Program is to promote scholarship and growth through theater by developing original dramatic material for diverse external groups. During a rigorous and brief rehearsal period, small groups of HYSA students are afforded the opportunity to tour and perform in an artistic composition. These compositions are designed to augment and advance target audiences' existing programs of study. Following each performance event, student performers participate in a comprehensive question and answer session with the target audience. This community collaboration clearly demonstrates the impact and import of creative interdisciplinary action while contributing and serving the community.
A Pinch of This & That (2019)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2018)
Check out the Mainstage Webpage for more pictures and reflections from the cast, crew, and director.
"I truly enjoyed being a part of outreach this year and having the opportunity to share the outreach experience with new students. I got to go to Sunburst for both the literature outreach and robotics outreach. I love going out for outreach because working with the kids reminds me of the joy and curiosity that initially got me interested in both theatre and robotics. Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces and hearing their questions spark that passion in me that often is blinded by the stress of life. The kids inspire me to do my best, and I always leave outreach happier than I was when I came. I like knowing I impacted their life in a small way. Through the past few years of getting to go on outreach, I feel I have grown as a leader and gained many skills. I will dearly miss the kids I have gotten to know but hope to find ways in college to give back to my community in a meaningful way." -- Alexa T., long-time outreach performer and HYSA 2019 graduate
My Words! Our Stories! (2018)
Directed by Sabrina Switzer-Wareing*
The Ensemble
Beatrice Allen* William Bailly Andrew Berles Evan Bramer* Andrea Ciotinga* Sophia Hatsell* Gabriel Johnston Drew Kolber** Molly Kuhler* Riley Lawrence* Clara Marques de Mesquita Don Nguyen* Sean Sadeghi* Kunal Sharma* Tessa Sharp** Adam Spangler* Shani Spector* Emily Vasko* Carlin Washburn* Anthony Young Jr* Joshua Zakaras* REIMAGINE
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The Production Team
Story Writers Secondary Theatre Students Story Stage Managers Secondary Theatre Students Lighting – Spotlight Joshua Zakaras** Lighting – Board Adam Spangler** Carlin Washburn* Prop Construct Tessa Sharp** Pierre-Louis Hamel Joseph Norman** Historian & Crew Robert Dykes** Makeup Crew Gia DeYoung* Alexa Twibell** Annika Erickson** Program S. Switzer-Wareing** Artwork Molly Kuhler* & Katelyn John** Story Page Artwork Katelyn John** Box Office & House Alexa Twibell** Matthew Syms** *Denotes Membership in the International Thespian Society **Denotes Executive Board Member HYSA Thespian Society |
MY WORDS . . .
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The outreach experience included a service learning opportunity that introduced visiting second graders to varied facets of theatrical stagecraft. The projects included Foley SFX, Shakespeare's Food, Lighting Design, Puppetry, Introduction to Restoration Comedy, Sculpture and Art, and Facepaint.
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Second Grader Comments "It was so much fun!" "The animals were funny!" "Can do the tree light?" "I know! It's a gobo!" "I love coming here!" "Thespis. Thespis!" "I got a penguin! See!!" "The wolf eyes were the best part." "How did you make the eyes glow?" "See what I made . . ." "Look at my puppet!" I made the owl fly and I like the Shakespeare dough!" "I want to wear the mask!" "I liked everything!" "Can I come back?" |
Patchwork: A play for children (2017)
Directed by Sabrina Switzer-Wareing
The Acting Ensemble
Carly Cairns Joseph Norman Matthew Syms Angelina Tran Jane Tran Tim Tran Alexa Twibell Ben Weinstock |
A cleverly designed ensemble of old fashioned fables and contemporary foibles, "Patchwork" is stitched together with wit and wisdom.
Actors play 41 roles in this on-site Outreach and Mainstage production. |
"Patchwork utilizes some unique aspects to create an effective piece. The piece connects to the audience with its physical humor and strong use of the fourth wall. Its use of fables and stories had a strong impact on the audience. Fables were originally created to teach audiences lessons in the form of a story and its use in Patchwork helps convey the messages to younger audiences. Seeing the audience react and connect to the piece was my favorite part, because I know I did something that taught them a lesson." -- Tim Tran
"Patchwork it was one of the most enjoyable plays I ever participated in. One of my favorite parts is the opportunity to perform this piece of Youth Theatre for hundreds of Arizona elementary students. When the cast and I were able to jump on stage and perform numerous skits, and ultimately, life lessons, the reaction was indescribable. This is one of the main reasons I enjoy doing Outreach. The fact I am able to go out and instill a passion for acting in so many youth is amazing. Not only that, but I'm also able to do one of my many favorite activities when going on Outreach, acting." -- Matthew Syms "Patchwork was a unique and effective piece of Youth Theater. This is because of the audience involvement seen throughout many aspects and various scenes such as “Help” or “The Introduction”. This engaged the targeted youth audience, allowing them to have fun and not to be lost in the dialogue. I enjoyed performing in front of the 312 students that came to see our show. The smiles on their faces and the satisfaction of hearing an applause or laughter makes my day and fills me with joy. Also, either hugging or making some form of physical contact with all 312 while hearing many say “You’re so pretty!!” Or “I liked the cat scene” is something only experienced in an Outreach Performance. Fables are useful because they not only tell a story with a compelling story line for children, but it also teaches them valuable lessons about life and the world around them." -- Carly Cairns "I LOVED the kids reactions to our play. They were so attentive that it was truly amazing for me to watch. I can't say it enough - those kids were so awesome!!!" -- Ben Weinstock |
"What I enjoyed most about Patchwork was seeing it all come together in the end. After rehearsing the play numerous times, seeing the progress that was made from our initial rehearsals to the final performance was very fulfilling. I am very proud of the work I did that contributed to the props used onstage. In fabricating the quilt, I had to use a lot of trial and error, and at times it was frustrating, but in the end I was able to produce a piece that was presentable and performed its function well. Operating the spotlight was also an enjoyable role, as I was able to highlight roles onstage and add emphasis on certain details." -- Joseph Norman
"The "Patchwork" play was one of my favorite pieces to perform because of audience participation and how enthusiastic the children were during different scenes of the play. Although memorizing and blocking was difficult the outcome of the play was well worth it. In one of the scenes Alexa's and Ben's characters played cat and mouse, at the end Ben's character is caught by the "cat." It was really fun to see the kids reactions. The interaction and laughter of the audience made this experience memorable and fun." -- Angelina Tran "I absolutely loved working on and performing this play. My favorite part has to be the audience interaction. In one scene, my character got to go out into the audience and give a kid a cookie. It was lots of fun to get the kids involved and watch their reactions. Performing the play would not have been the same without the laughter of our audience and that interaction made the experience even more memorable. " -- Alexa Twibell
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Legacy . . . a Civil War historical outreach experience (2016 - 2017)
Adapted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
"Outreach productions introduce the ideas of theatre to young children who may not have had quick outlets to this type of knowledge. It entertains children, and often educates them. Outreach offers a unique way to contribute to the community in a positive way." -- James Logan
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"The public value of having an outreach program is to educate children and to experience acting and drama in different settings. I think that outreach gives students an opportunity to act and to educate at the same time. All outreach performances have a lesson to teach and offer an experience. Performing outreach is always exciting because you get to see and experience what the children think." -- Angelina Tran
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Friends . . . applying the art of mime to storytelling (2016)
Scripted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Acting Ensemble
Jason Audet Adrian Ciotinga Pierre-Louis Hamel Tom Johnson Josui Maruno Joseph Norman Angelina Tran Tim Tran Victoria Tran Keaten Wood |
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"I have learned the value of hard work and how some things can truly pay off in the form of smiling faces rather than just a good grade." -- Thomas Johnson
"By working on these plays we get as much as the audience. The more time contributed to the play the more the audience feels connected and involved." -- Jane Tran "By doing outreach I was able to get a new mindset about performing." -- Jospeh Norman "I have gotten the satisfaction of seeing the audience react and enjoy the performance. I also got theatre experience and learned how to fix mistakes and respond to anything that happens on the fly." --Tim Tran |
"I have learned to appreciate theatre and the innocence of little kids. I hope I have sparked a passion for drama within them."
-- Jason Audet "What I have gotten out of the production is that hard work pays off and everything can always improve. When we were at the beginning of the production, I thought I would just have to memorize a couple of lines and be done with it. When I saw the finished product, it was much better than anyone could have imagined." -- Adrian Ciotinga "Being able to step out of a serious mindset and into a fun and playful one was very enjoyable! Performing, in general, has many benefits such as using public speaking skills and learning to adjust to the accidents." -- Victoria Tran |
Tolstoy's Three Questions . . . a Russian tale (2016)
Scripted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Acting Ensemble
Jason Audet Carly Cairns Matthew Coggins Olivia Johnson Meredith Kuhler Ethan Miller Dan Nguyen Gigi Ruiz Matthew Syms Emily Tenaglia Tim Tran Alexa Twibell Ben Weinstock |
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"Doing performance outreach programs makes you feel better as a person." -- Dan Nguyen
"The public value of doing an outreach production is helping kids see the great and wondrous thing that is drama. It is to show them they can become something else and have an impact on others’ lives just by helping them have fun. That is the public value of doing outreach to me. Personally, I would say that I have gotten a sense of contentment. Just seeing the expressions on their faces after each show when their walking out and get to high five us gives me a sense of contentment, knowing that I’ve made at least one kid happy." -- Ethan Miller "Outreach provides me with opportunities to make connections with my peers. Also, these performances provide us with the opportunity to help younger audiences understand difficult moral lessons. " -- Meredith Kuhler "When I do outreach, I always have a lot of fun doing so and I’m always asked why do I do it, what’s so fun about outreach, what does it even do for you? Outreach to me isn’t about the “extra points” or getting out of school for two hours. Instead, I appreciate how every single day I go out and perform outreach I get to change someone’s life. Whether it is elementary students watching me from the floor of an auditorium, or adults watching me in a black box theater I always feel that I teach every single person in that audience a lesson and it makes me feel like a better person. It not only helps me grow as a person, but improves my social and acting skills. Most of all I love seeing the smiles and emotion everybody feels when watching outreach performances, and that is a reward within itself." --Matthew Syms "Through public outreach, a school is able to benefit society in a productive and educational way. Such productions can be used as mediums to convey deep ideas to young children." -- Emily Tenaglia |
"I have gotten a good deal of experience doing the outreach production and it has impacted me in two ways. The first way is simply that I have improved my acting skills. The second is that I am more comfortable with younger children than I used to be." -- Ben Weinstock
"I feel public audiences benefit greatly from our outreach productions, even when they do not realize what they are learning. The elementary school students learn life lessons and values through comedic and creative performances. I think the students not only gain a philosophical understanding behind the meaning of life, but also learn about theatre and how to express themselves and their emotions. By teaching the future generation about thinking outside of the box and installing the morals of paying attention to those around you and caring about others, we are guiding them into a positive future while giving them an entertaining show." -- Alexa Twibell "Another way in which the public benefits from an outreach production is the public gets to learn about a culture in which they previously had no or limited knowledge on." -- Gigi Ruiz "The public value of an outreach production is multifaceted. They are generally educational, ethical, and enjoyable for both the audiences and the actors. Our outreaches try to teach the audience something new, often through the use of bilingual productions and interacting before and after the show. They also have a moral, which is discussed after the production. Finally, the outreach shows are a delight both to watch and to perform." -- Liv Johnson "I would say we give the kids a chance to look into acting, and learn how enjoyable it is. We influence them to pursue fine arts classes like drama." -- Matthew Coggins |
Hansel & Gretel . . . a bilingual and musical oral tradition play (2016)
Scripted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Acting Ensemble
Isabel Greenberg Kyle Johnson Madison Kuhler Angela McChesney Sumaita Mulk Karoline Petty Original Musical Score by Seth Gibson German Translation by Tai-Yo Maruno |
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". . . the arts have been an inseparable part of the human journey; indeed, we depend on the arts to carry us toward the fullness of our humanity. We value them for themselves, and because we do, we believe knowing and practicing them is fundamental to the healthy development of our children's minds and spirits. That is why, in any civilization - ours included - the arts are inseparable from the very meaning of the term 'education.' We know from long experience that no one can claim to be truly educated who lacks basic knowledge and skills in the arts." –National Standards for Arts Education
Zen Shorts . . . a biomodal bilingual production (2105)
Adapted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
Adapted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Acting Ensemble
Tim Tran Josui Maruno Olivia Johnson Matthew Syms Ethan Miller Meredith Kuhler Alexa Twibell |
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Tanggu to Riki Tiki Tembo... a traditional cumulative folktale (2015)
Adapted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Acting Ensemble
Mitchell Dodell Kyle Johnson Karaline Petty Jasmine Amoako-Agyei Jessica Gibson Marcus Silverman |
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Patchwork Poetry Play (2015)
Scripted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Actors
Tim Tran Kenna Basteyns Jeremy Lee Gigi Ruiz Alexa Twibell Matthew Syms Keaten Wood Angelina Tran Emily Tenaglia |
Meredith Kuhler Maxwell Moenich Sophia Kimble Ethan Miller Hannah Grace Hopke Gabriella Skavdahl Carson Breus Jason Amoako-Agyei |
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In this playful outreach composition, a combination of Ancient Greek Poetics and Collaborative poetry concepts were theatrically practiced through the performance of children's poems.
The Giving Tree . . . a bilingual production (2015-2014)
Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Acting Ensemble
The Boy...............Madison Kuhler The Tree.......... Jasmine Amoako-Agyei Jessica Gibson Isabel Greenberg Angela McChesney Caitlin O'Brien Alyssa Unell The Man................ Marcus Silverman |
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Specifically for The Giving Tree, I have taken away that children's theatre is a very effective and intuitive way to reach young minds. It gets the children involved and interested while exposing them to theatre, stories, real word problems, and morals. I think telling stories to young audiences through children's theatre is not only beneficial to the children, but also the actors; as we all allow ourselves to grow and learn from each experience.
-- Angela McChesney, HYSA Student I participate in outreach shows in order to give back to the community. Additionally, The Giving Tree contains highly valuable lessons about unconditional love and greed which children should learn at an early age. I enjoy making the children laugh while also exposing them to a story which will change their attitudes and values for the better. After viewing our performance of The Giving Tree, I hope that the children will express their gratitude for the people in their lives who make sacrifices for them. Whether these are parents or teachers, they may find themselves faced with a new appreciation from their children or students after they view The Giving Tree.
-- Marc Silverman, HYSA Student |
I do outreach shows because I am passionate about performing. I think part of what goes into theatre and also part of what makes me so passionate about it, is the art of storytelling. To be able to convey emotion, character development and stories using primarily your body as the main tool is simply incredible.
-- Jasmine Amoako-Agyei, HYSA Student I do outreach shows because it improves my ability to adapt and to get in character in places that are not suitable or familiar. This is important because I am able to learn how to create my character by attempting to become them and internally connecting them to my own experiences and personality, instead of using my environment to create the character.
-- Madison Kuhler, HYSA Student Performing The Giving Tree for valley-wide audiences gave me an opportunity to practice my Spanish and to get a better understanding of what it's like to perform for such young audiences. The Giving Tree was an amazing experience to have.
-- Jessica Gibson, HYSA Student |
Speak the Speech... from the works of William Shakespeare (2014)
Adapted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Players
Ariana Bustos JD House Kyle Johnson Neo Martinson Cait O'Brien Collin Phillips Grace Ruiz Victoria Tran Alyssa Unell Haley Ziesemer |
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Chuānghù jìnrù zhōngguó mínsú xué (2014)
(Windows into Chinese Folklore)
Written and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Acting Ensemble
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Realizing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (2013)
Scripted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The piece was created to supplement coursework exploring modern scientific ideology and its impact on Western culture.
The piece was created to supplement coursework exploring modern scientific ideology and its impact on Western culture.
The Acting Ensemble
Madison Kuhler.......... Mary Shelley Chad Bauman............. Victor Frankenstein JD House.................... Creature Sam Shapiro............... Creature Darkness Brett Cohen................ Robert Walton Eric Slosky.................. Percy Shelley & Multiple Roles Angela McChesney..... Krempe & Multiple Roles |
"Of course outreach is good! It's beneficial to everyone involved. RMSF has helped me understand the story, obviously, but also myself as a member of humanity. Being the creature had given me a new outlook on human nature and society, a viewpoint I didn't before understand. We reject anything that doesn't look and act like ourselves. The play and book demonstrate this beautifully, and being a part of the show has been an incredibly enlightening experience." -- JD House
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Wild Things (2013)
The Acting Ensemble
Collin Phillips.......................... Maurice Grace Ruiz............................... Mother Ariana Bustos.......................... Max Samuel Shapiro, Haley Ziesemer, Sumaita Mulk, Annapurna Chitnavis, Madison Kuler, Tyera Zweygardt, Kalella Gamble, JD House ........................................... Wild Things |
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The Unity of Discourse (2013)
Scripted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing.
The Acting Ensemble
Gavin Carns................................... Strepsiades JD House....................................... Socrates Collin Phillips................................ Machiavelli Samuel Shapiro............................. Prince Brett Cohen................................... Niccolo Tyera Zweygardt........................... Hamlet Annapurna Chitnavis.................... Horatio Ariana Bustos............................... Aristophanes Eric Slosky.................................... Sun Tzu Angela McChesney........................ Lead Student & Voices Grace Ruiz and Haley Ziesemer... Dante & Voices Madison Kuhler............................ Revenge & Voices Sumaita Mulk................................ War & Voice |
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To Be Hamlet (2012)
Scripted and Directed by S. Switzer-Wareing
The Acting Ensemble Annapurna Chitnavis....... Ophelia & Horatio Brett Cohen...................... Claudius Eric Slosky....................... The Ghost, Polonius, Laertes, & The First Clown Tyera Zweygardt.............. Hamlet |
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"Shakespeare has definitely opened my mind and broadened my perspective on history as a whole, but it is completely indescribable what I will take away from performing Hamlet." -- Tyera Zweygardt
"Although, I have previously performed Shakespeare, it was never as intensely or with such a focus on one play as this time. I can say that I am very glad that I did it." -- Brett Cohen |
"When performing Shakespeare, I feel like I am my true self and no one is judging me." -- Annapurna Chitnavis
"Before studying Hamlet, I knew nothing about the piece other than the famous “to be or not to be” and now I know I understand its overall symbolism." -- Eric Slosky |