Program areas at Polaris Productions
"Thoroughly Modern Millie". Produced the classic musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie", performed by young people ages 12 through 20 in New York, NY. Seventeen young actors took part, supported by four theater professionals and eight adult and teenage volunteers. In April 2019, six public performances were held at Teatro LATEA in Manhattan, with a total audience participation of about 215 people. Thoroughly Modern Millie" received one Outstanding Performer award and six nominations from National Youth Arts.
"Really Rosie Theater Camp." Our July 2019 summer program was a two week long, weekday theater camp experience for children ages 7 through 13. The kids rehearsed the Maurice Sendak-Carole King musical "Really Rosie" and held two studio performances. Audience participation was about 75 people, with two theater professionals and two high school student volunteers leading the program.
"The Addams Family". Our fall 2019 program, The Addams Family, rehearsed once weekly, beginning in September, for a total of eight weeks. Two performances were held in November 2019. The project was to mount a small production of The Addams Family at the Flamboyan Theater in lower Manhattan. Sixteen kids participated, ages 8-18, with total audience participation of 144. Eight of these kids went on to take part in the Spring 2020 production of Legally Blonde, which began rehearsals in December 2019. Legally Blonde was put on pause when the pandemic broke out in NYC in March 2020.
"Nunsense". In January 2019, Polaris completed its production of Nunsense which began rehearsing in the fall of 2018. Seven teenage girls participated, with four performances at OPERA America in Manhattan. Two theater professionals and three volunteers provided instruction and support. One girl received an Outstanding performer award from National Youth Arts, and one was nominated. Some of the income and expenses were included in the 2018 return since it began rehearsals in fall 2018.
"Eighth Annual Gala". We held our annual gala on 3/17/2019 at Westbeth Community Room in Manhattan. The kids from the cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie performed some of their favorite showtunes as well as numbers from Thoroughly Modern Millie. About 12 kids participated and about 20 people attended. Since our galas are strictly performance opportunities for our kids, with no fundraising activities apart from performance ticket sales, we consider them to be program activities and not fundraisers.
"Open Mic". In June 2019 we organized and held an experimental "open mic" where kids got to perform for an audience of peers. No participation or door fees were charged. Eight kids performed and they brought twelve kids to participate in the audience. It was advertised on Facebook and Instagram beginning two weeks prior to the event. It was held at the Westbeth Community Room in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
"Legally Blonde". In December 2019 we held auditions and began rehearsing for our spring 2020 production of Legally Blonde. Twenty kids and college age performers signed on. At this time we received tuition payments and made advance payments for services and materials. The production was put on pause in March 2020 due to the stay-at-home order during the pandemic. Several students were given need-based scholarships.