With several newsworthy events at CenterStage at the Trager Family Jewish Community Center this season, Arts Angle Vantage took note. The long-running community theater opened its new 107,000-square-foot facility with its new auditorium for theater, and arts and Erin Silliman took the Arts & Ideas director role, which included choosing the season. (This week, Centerstage announced productions for its 2023-24 season.)
The cast of “13: The Musical” at CenterStage at the Trager Family JCC. Photo by Robyn Kaufman. Courtesy Trager Family JCC.
CenterStage’s February production of “13: The Musical,” a story about adolescents with an all-teen cast, was Silliman’s idea — one she also directed. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2008 and just last year Netflix released a movie version. The project, she said, came naturally as she had previously been CenterStage's education programming director for four years.
This production gave teen journalists the opportunity to go backstage during rehearsals, see “13: The Musical” in the new facilities and consider the story itself as depicted by other teens. Here, New Albany High School students Cheyenne Farnsley and Nicolas Prince report.
Read their articles in LEO Weekly, our media partner on this project.
Or read their articles here:
• CenterStage Adjusts to New Space under its New Director with “13: The Musical" | By Nicolas Prince
This is just one way that Arts Angle Vantage elevates youth voices and the arts as well as connects them to the arts in their own community. In turn, they share their work with the wider community.
Arts Angle Vantage and the participants are grateful to the people at CenterStage at the Trager Family JCC for sharing their time with us. We also are especially appreciative of LEO Weekly and Editor Erica Rucker for helping us elevate youth voices and the arts by practicing the values of collaborative journalism.