Sudbury Secondary School & Sudbury Theatre Centre celebrate 40 yrs together

Sudbury Secondary School and the Sudbury Theatre Centre will join together in the next school year to give students an exciting performance opportunity. Sudbury Secondary School students will present the STC Young(ish) Company’s production of Charlotte’s Web on the professional stage at the STC while the Sheridan Auditorium is being renovated as part of the revitalization of Sudbury Secondary School.

Sudbury Theatre Centre Artistic Director David Savoy, left, and Sudbury Secondary School Principal Paul Camillo meet Charlotte the pig and get into the spirit of Charlotte’s Web. In Charlotte’s Web, a pig named Wilbur is saved from being slaughtered by a spider named Charlotte.

Sudbury Secondary School students Jake Deeth, Grade 10, and Melissa Bowden, Grade 9, were delighted to learn that students will present the STC Young(ish) Company’s production of Charlotte’s Web on the professional stage at the STC next year. Sudbury Secondary School Principal Paul Camillo, left, and Sudbury Theatre Centre Artistic Director David Savoy announced the exciting performance opportunity on June 21st, 2011.

Sudbury Secondary School and the Sudbury Theatre Centre will join together in the next school year to give students an exciting performance opportunity. Sudbury Secondary School students will present the STC Young(ish) Company’s production of Charlotte’s Web on the professional stage at the STC while the Sheridan Auditorium is being renovated.

The performance, set for March 21 to April 4, 2012, will be part of STC’s 40th anniversary season. There will be three public performances followed by six to eight school matinées. As well, student artwork will be on display in the STC lobby in January and February 2012, as Sudbury Secondary School brings the arts into the community.

“Over the years, it has taken only a phone call for either organization to come to the assistance of the other, with lighting or sound equipment, props or costumes,” said David Savoy, Artistic Director of the Sudbury Theatre Centre. “The 2011-2012 partnership between Sudbury Secondary School and STC formalizes a new chapter in the historical journey between the only Arts Education Program in the region and the only English Professional Theatre Company between Toronto and Thunder Bay.”

“We are delighted that STC has opened its doors to us as we continue to renovate our school and revitalize our Arts Education Program, which includes drama, dance, music, media and visual arts,” said Paul Camillo, Principal of Sudbury Secondary School. “The upcoming school year will mark the dawn of a new era for Sudbury Secondary School as we launch our new arts wing. We are excited that STC will be part of the celebration.”

Sudbury Secondary School and the Sudbury Theatre Centre have enjoyed a partnership since 1972, when a small but energetic, passionate and committed group of community leaders set out to make the dream of a professional theatre company a reality.  The International Nickel Company came to the rescue by offering the INCO Club on Frood Road to the Sudbury Theatre Centre as its first home.

The task of turning an open hall into a theatre took many hands.  Mike Kajganich, theatre arts teacher at Sudbury Secondary School, saw that his students would be the perfect fit.  His senior drama class trekked to the site daily to help STC build risers and install seats for the first audiences. A partnership was born.
   
Over the years, each of the six STC Artistic Directors has spent enjoyable and rewarding time with the students of Sudbury Secondary School, teaching workshops, polishing plays and welcoming students in Young(ish) Company casts.

Many professional actors have visited Sudbury Secondary School since the Arts Education Program began in 1985. In addition, several Sudbury Secondary School students have completed Co-operative Education placements in technical theatre as production assistants at the STC.

The renewal of Sudbury Secondary School began in September 2008 with the revitalization of the A wing which runs along Mackenzie Street, including a displacement ventilation system, new energy efficient washrooms, lighting and boilers, new state-of-the-art science labs, a family studies area, sewing room, fitness and weight room, computer labs and cafeteria. An addition accommodates change rooms adjoining a newly renovated gymnasium.

Construction of the new arts wing began in June 2010 and is scheduled to be complete by September 2011. The new arts wing will have modern music rooms and studios for dance, drama, visual arts, photography and media arts. The arts wing will also house a new library, wood shops, auto shops and administration offices. This part of the building will be connected to the Sheridan Auditorium, which is also being upgraded as part of the school renewal project. Demolition of the B and C wings, which run along Baker and College Streets, will occur in 2011.
   
-30-

Media Contacts:

Paul Camillo, Principal, Sudbury Secondary School,
Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-7551.

Judi Straughan, Education Co-ordinator
Sudbury Theatre Centre, 705-674-7788, ext. 23