Annual Marquee Awards

Annual Marquee Awards
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Area Community Theatre Alliance will hold its third annual Marquee Awards on Aug. 26 at the Saxon Club on Meridian Road, Austintown.
The Marquees honor acting and technical achievement in all local community theater groups. The awards are sponsored by The Vindicator.
The Marquees have 42 categories with up to five nominees in each category. A new category, Best Musical Director, was added this year, according to awards chairman J.E. Ballantyne Jr.
The nominations, which are culled from all performances in the 2005-06 season, will be announced Aug. 1.
The Aug. 26 ceremony will begin at 8 p.m., and will be preceded by a cocktail hour at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 apiece, or a table of eight for $120, and can be bought by calling Joyce Jones at (330) 518-6632. Dress is semi-formal, but formal attire is preferred.
Summer theater classes
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Playhouse Youth Theater's first series of summer classes will run from June 12-16 for pupils in first through 12th grades.
Pupils in grades four through eight can participate in "High School Musical -- The Class!" in which they will create a new and original episode of the movie, based on its characters.
Film buffs in fifth through eighth grades may enroll in "Silents, Please!" where they will view clips from classic silent film comedies, draw a storyboard and film their own slapstick movie.
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is for youngsters in first through third grades. The class will teach creative drama skills along with simple singing and dancing techniques.
In "Fun With Shakespeare!" pupils in fifth through eighth grades will become their own Shakespearean theater company and will be directors, stagehands, costumers and actors in a short version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Classes for the month of July will cover the beginning and intermediate levels of performance for all grade levels. Also included will be a hip-hop dance class and an interactive adventure class, "Merlin's Magical Mysteries!"
For further information about class times, fees and enrollment, call the box office at (330) 788-8739.
Musical at SCT Youth
SALEM -- Salem Community Theatre Youth Players will present the musical "Once on this Island" from June 9-11. Inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Mermaid," the Broadway show transports the story to a Caribbean island where social prejudice divides the island. Presented as a play within a play, a cast of village storytellers, attempting to calm a frightened child, tells the tale of a peasant girl who saves a city boy from death.
"Island" is directed by Jon Simsic and features a cast of youth ranging in age from 9-18. Tickets are available from the SCT box office at (330) 332-9688.
Seeking artists for show
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning Commons Artist Organization is taking applications from artists to participate in the Sunday at Cedars arts festival, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 6 at Cedars Caf & eacute;, downtown. This is a juried invitational show with limited booth spaces. Contact Pat Hyland at (330) 743-7586, Marcie Applegate at (330) 788-0673, or Lynn Cardwell at (330) 718-2696 for details and an application form.