Marsh Youth Theaterpresents...
OCCUPY BROADWAY Created and Performed
by MYT's MainStage Summer Ensemble 2012
Directed by Lisa Quoresimo
Music Direction by Tania Johnson
Choreography by Karina Vela
Sets by Alex Bargas Emily Klion, Marsh Youth Theater Director
We don’t usually do Broadway at MYT, but this summer we can’t resist. Join Marsh Youth Theater as MainStage Summer performs a revue of scenes and songs of the 99% and 1% as depicted through the years on the Broadway stage. It’s a classic theme of have and have-not-ers and who gets to be a millionaire at the end of the story. Does money buy happiness? Or does singing, dancing and acting? You be the judge at MYT’s Occupy Broadway!!!
Marsh Youth Theater presents… Jip, His Story by Katherine Paterson
MYT MainStage Performance Ensemble 2012
Musical theater adaptatio by Emily Klion & Danny Duncan
Directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang Rashidi Omari, dance Michelle Jordan, Vocal Direction
MYT remounts its popular 2005 production of Katherine Paterson’s historical novel about a 1850’s Vermont boy caught in a web of racial and class prejudice. Jip knows only that he was left on the side of the road when he was a toddler and brought up on a poor farm. Who are his parents? Where is he from? When Jip discovers the truth, his whole life is changed. Two-time Newbery Award winner Katherine Paterson is the National Ambassador for Children’s Literature and one of the nation's best writers of young people’s fiction. This will be an auditioned production for MYT Teens with a few additional younger actors included.
Adapted by Emily Klion, Lisa Quoresimo & Danny Duncan
Directed by Lisa Quoresimo
with Roberto Borrel, dance & music Chus Alonso & Martha Rodriguez-Salazar & Community Music Center's Mission District Young Musicians Program John Ramirez, sets; Susana Aragon, costumes
In honor of our first production, MYT recreates the myth of Persephone, Goddess of Spring, Queen of the Underworld- this time with a Cuban twist. It’s an honor to work with the great Afro-Cuban music and dance specialist, Roberto Borrell, who will assist us in transforming Persephone’s family of Greek gods into Cuban Orishas, each with his or her own music, dance and costume. Our core MainStage team of Lisa Quoresimo, John Ramirez and Susana Aragon will direct and create sets and costumes for the show.
MYT is very excited to announce our first collaboration with Community Music Center! Latin music specialists, Chus Alonso and Martha Rodriguez-Salazar will direct the production band: CMC’s Mission District Young Musicians Program. Persephone Cubana will rock with the rhythms of Afro-Cuban and modern Cuban dance music.
Marsh Youth Theater presents… The Last Wild Witch by Starhawk MYT FirstStage Ensemble 2012
Directed by Sally Davis Maica Folch, trapeze dance and movement Violeta Vicario, music
“Once there was a perfect town, in a perfect world, where there were rules for everything and a right way and a wrong way to do everything, and nobody ever broke the rules-except sometimes." So begins Starhawk's eco-fable, The Last Wild Witch. MYT is thrilled to collaborate with one of the Bay Area’s most celebrated earth-based writers, activists and spiral dance leader. We’ll create an original musical theater adaptation of Starhawk’s fable The Last Wild Witch, using drama, music, dance, improvisation and visual art.
Marsh Youth Theater presents… Truthtopia MYT Teen Touring Troupe 2012
Written and Performed by MYT 2011 MainStage Summer Ensemble with MYT Teen Troupe Creative Corps
Directed by Cliff Mayotte Marcelo Pereira, Music Rebecca Weisser, Choreography Alex Bargas, Sets Emily Klion, Marsh Youth Theater Creative Director
The Marsh Youth Theater 2011 Teen Touring Troupe stars in an original music- and dance-filled production based on Mark Twain's satirical short story, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg. This updated version tells the story of a small town called Truthtopia, which prides itself on its population of good, upstanding citizens. But when a mysterious stranger abandons a cash-packed suitcase there, the formerly orderly lives of the townsfolk are turned upside-down, leading to a outbreak of greed, temptation, treachery -- and fun musical numbers.
Marsh Youth Theater presents… As You Like it! MYT MainStage Summer 2011
Based on the comedy by William Shakespeare
Conceived&written by Lisa Quoresimo & MYT MainStage Students
Directed byLisa Quoresimo
Music DirectorKaty Stephan
ChoreographerRebecca Weisser
SetsJohn Ramirez
CostumesSusana Aragón
MYT Program DirectorEmily Klion
Marsh Youth Theater presents a hilarious updated musical version of Shakespeare's comedy, "As You Like It." All the world's a stage in this classic tale of gender swapping, crazy love poetry and lots and lots of unrequited love in the pastoral setting of Golden Gate Park. MYT MainStage Performance Ensemble has updated the story with contemporary music and dance - even a hip hop Maypole! Shakespeare in the Mission? Let's go!
Marsh Youth Theater presents… SIDDHARTHA,The Bright Path 2010 December 2010 - January 2011
Written by Emily Klion,
Lisa Quoresimo, Danny Duncan
Directed by Lisa Quoresimo
Music by Emily Klion, Lisa Quoresimo, George Brooks
Choreography by Antonia Minnecola and Russell Wright
Costumes by Susana Aragón
Sets by John Ramirez
Vocal Direction by Katy Stephan
Live Music by David Möshler piano; Ben Kunin, sarode; Jim Santi Owen & Shonali Srivastava, tabla
Additional Music by Blake Derby and Rev. Gary Davis
Prince Siddhartha’s journey to become the Buddha is told in parallel with that of Chandra, a modern-day San Francisco girl who, surrounded by a mass of birthday party gifts, finds herself posing similar questions about the value of material things and the reasons for human suffering. The two meet under the Bodhi tree, on the banks of the Ganges River, where Buddha helps her find her own brand of enlightenment. The show is flavored with Indian music, art, kathak dance and a Bollywood dance scene.
Marsh Youth Theater presents… OUR STORY, What Really Happened? July 2010
Written and Directed by Randy Symank Music Direction by Marcelo Pereira with Kendall Owings
Choreography by Karina Vela
Sets by Alex Bargas
Costumes by Caitlin Simpson-Bergman with Anais Azul
Lighting by Erich Blazeski
Marsh Youth Theater Summer MainStage Ensemble presents Our Story, a Tale of Perspective. Based on the famous Rashomon tale of viewpoints, MYT students wrote and created a story of a mysterious incident at the school dance in which a student is injured. Gossip, innuendo and accusations abound as a detective tries to piece together what really happened. Set to an exuberant music and dance track from the 1980’s 90’s and today’s music. MYT student actors will wow you with their talent!
Marsh Youth Theater presents… THE MAGIC FLUTE May 2010
Written by W.A. Mozart Directed by Lisa Quoresimo
Original Adaptation by Danny Duncan & Emily KlionScript and Music adapted for MYT by Lisa Quoresimo
Directed byLisa Quoresimo
Music Directed by Frederick Harris
Choreography by Sonya Smith
Sets by John Ramirez
Costumes by Susana Aragon
MYT Creative Director Emily Klion
Mozart’s magical opera MYT style! This lovely musical theater version is designed especially for MYT’s MainStage Performance Ensemble. With forest creatures, tests of bravery, a daughter’s love, a queen’s revenge,Tamino’s magic flute and Papegeno’s bells, The Magic Flute spins a fantasy of beauty and delight. Join us for this classic story of loyalty and love through Mozart’s gorgeous music.
Marsh Youth Theater presents… THE WAVE February 2010
Written by Ron Jones Directed by Cliff Mayotte
A 1967 classroom experiment in Fascism that shook a school!
Music by David Denny, Kathy Peck, Emily Klion
Music Directed by Frederick Harris
Choreography by Tricia Lam and Zoe Fyfe
Sets by Alex Bargas
Costumes by Susana Aragon
MYT Creative Director Emily Klion
The Marsh is proud to announce Marsh Youth Theater’s (MYT’s) Teen Troupe in the world premiere of THE WAVE, a musical by Ron Jones. The play is based on an actual classroom experiment in fascism conducted by Jones in 1967 while he was a history teacher at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto. During a five-day period students gave up their ‘freedom’ for the prospect of being superior to their classmates. Almost immediately, the experiment got out of control. Student curiosity and questioning were replaced with conformity and violence. The perspectives of the actual students who comprised the experiment in 1967 are incorporated into the show’s production. The Wave translates as a story for our time, challenging MYT teen actors and their audience to examine their deepest beliefs about politics and social pressure.
Marsh Youth Theater presents… NOVIO BOY by Gary Soto July 2009
Performed by MYT Summer MainStage Performance Ensemble
Artistic Director: Emily Klion
Stage Direction: Randy Symank
Music Direction: Shannon Day
Choreography: Karina Vela
Sets: Alex Bargas
MainStage Summer will create a musical production of Gary Soto’s, Novio Boy, a hip, funny play featuring the Spanglish language and culture of a Mexican American group of teens. Ninth-grade Rudy has asked eleventh-grade Patricia out on a date, and to his amazement she has agreed. Now Rudy has to come up with the money, the poise, and the conversation to carry it off. This play follows Rudy from his desperate search for guidance from family and friends through the hilarities of the date itself, all the way to its successful conclusion. Come join us in a performance of teatro, música y danza latinas, including cumbia, mariachi, chacha, y reggaeton!
GARY SOTO's first book for young readers, Baseball in April and Other Stories, won the California Library Association's Beatty Award and was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. He has since published many novels, short story collections, plays, and volumes of poetry. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and his hometown of Fresno.
Based on the book by Michael Bernard Loggins of Creativity Explored
Conceived, Directed and Choreographed by Kim Epifano with Sonya Smith and Maica Folch Emily Klion, MYT Creative Director
What is fear? How do we cope with it? How can we express it? Fears of Your Life will use dance, music, spoken word, video, sculpture and painting in a celebration of this universal emotion. This multi-media work explores our relationship with the sometimes serious and often humorous things that scare each one of us.
a new musical by Lisa Quoresimo and Charles Eurydice Gray
May 2009
With Lisa Quoresimo, Shannon Day, Sonia Smith, John Ramirez, Susana Aragón and other artists. MainStage Performance Ensemble celebrated its eighth season with the world premiere of Ciribiribin [CheeryBeeryBean], the story of an Italian immigrant family living in California in the early 1940’s. As the U.S.A. gets drawn into World War II, the family’s Italian language and customs are outlawed, and they begin to question the meaning of home. Set with Italian opera and infectious swing music and dance, Ciribiribin was created by the writing team of Lisa Quoresimo and Charles Eurydice Gray. It takes its name from a nineteenth-century Italian song that was popularized in America in the 20’s by Mario Lanza, then reborn as a big band hit by Harry James and Frank Sinatra.
Marsh Youth Theater presents… 1968, Visions of Change
August 2008
Written and Directed by Russell Wright
Performed by MYT Performance Ensemble
Music Direction by Shannon Day
Sets by Alex Bargas
Emily Klion, Marsh Youth Theater Program Director.
A musical celebration of Berkeley High School in the late 1960's— a time of social upheaval, new visions and patchouli. Join 40 youth in MYT's MainStage Summer Ensemble performing songs and dances from the exuberant and turbulent 1960's. Come hear the music and dance that reflect the political, cultural and changing views of the hippie generation. 1968, a seminal year where visions changed and social movements began.
Marsh Youth Theater presents…
SIDDHARTHA,The Bright Path … the story of the boy who became Buddha
December 2007 - January 2008
Written by Danny Duncan, Emily Klion and Lisa Quoresimo
Performed by MYT Performance Ensemble Written by Emily Klion, Lisa Quoresimo, Danny Duncan
Directed by Lisa Quoresimo
Music by Emily Klion, Lisa Quoresimo, George Brooks*
Kathak Choreography by Joanna Meinl and Antonia Minnecola
Modern and Bollywood Choreography by Russell Wright
Costumes by Susana Aragón
Sets by John Ramirez
Vocal Arrangements by Shannon Day
Live Music by Dave Malloy piano; Ben Kunin, sarode; Javad Butah, tabla
*Additional Music by Blake Derby and Rev. Gary Davis
Prince Siddhartha’s journey to become the Buddha is told in parallel with that of Chandra, a modern-day San Francisco girl who, surrounded by a mass of birthday party gifts, finds herself posing similar questions about the value of material things and the reasons for human suffering. The two meet under the Bodhi tree, on the banks of the Ganges River, where Buddha helps her find her own brand of enlightenment.
The show is flavored with Indian music, art, kathak dance and even a hip hop Bollywood scene. The cast of 24 ranges in age from 10 to 16 and from up-and-coming young actors to Vishnu Balunsat, a San Francisco Ballet “Nutcracker” veteran, who plays Siddhartha. There are no adult actors.
"Magical...Gorgeous...Uplifts your spirits. Not to be missed" -BayTimes
Marsh Youth Theater presents…
NARNIA
based on The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis.
May 3-10, 2008
Performed by 2008
MainStage Performance Ensemble
Written by Jules Tasca
Lyrics by Ted Drachman
Music by Thomas Tierney
Directed by Lisa Quoresimo
Music Direction by Tania Johnson
Choreography by Maica Folch & Sonia Smith
Costumes by Susan Aragón
Sets by John Ramirez
Poi Choreography by Aileen Lawlor
Magic by David Hirata
Lighting by Tyler Null
Emily Klion, Marsh Youth Theater Director
Poster Art by MYT Students Emily Claire Mason and Angelina Orrelana
Quincy Washington (Rapper Q) journeys back through time to learn about his musical roots, guided by the spirit of his aunt, Mama Queen, On the way he learns about the influence of African American artists on pop culture throughout the world. \ MYT’s MainStage Summer Ensemble sing, shout, twist, cakewalk, hip hop and swing dance through the twentieth century
Performed by 2007
Summer MainStage Performance Ensemble
Written and Directed by Russell Wright
Music Direction by Shannon Day
Choreography by Russell Wright
Sets by Alex Bargas
Lighting by Tyler Null
Emily Klion, Marsh Youth Theater Director
Marsh Youth Theater presents…
DONA QUIXOTE
Based on Don Quixote by Miquel de Cervantes
The classic story of the chivalrous visionary, with a twist. May 2006
Performed by 2006
MainStage Performance Ensemble
Original Libretto by Danny Duncan
Original Music and Lyrics by Emily Klion and Maggie McKaig
Directed by Lisa Quoresimo
Music Direction by Emily Klion
Spanish Guitar by Ricardo Diaz
Choreography by Mónica Bermudez
Costumes by Susan Aragón
Sets by John Ramirez
Lighting by Patti Meyer
Emily Klion, Marsh Youth Theater Director
