What’s The Story
Due in large part to recent grant awards from the Time Warner Youth Media & Arts Fund, a Union Square Arts Initiative Award, a grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs and the contributions of hundreds of generous supporters, CP-NY was able to expand it’s programming.
The pilot program, with a cast of 18 has been designed in order to test the hues of smaller program sizes, to facilitate touring the show in the five boroughs and to explore the after-school time slot for CP-NY programming in NYC. This cast’s first original musical, “What’s The Story”, premiered at The Cherry Lane Theatre in the West Village from January 31st through February 2nd, 2008.
The plot of “What’s the Story” revolves around a class project given to the youth cast challenging them to use an art form to convey the essence of their experiences as young people in NYC. One of the students decides to use film to document the lives of her classmates. As she goes along, the story she tries to tell changes (hence the show title). The show will use film throughout. The issues dealt with are homelessness, the nature of friendship, domestic abuse and the impact of divorce.
Some Audience Feedback:
“Congrats to you, the cast, and the rest of the staff on an AMAZING show. I just got home from a post-show coffee “debrief” with my friends who came to the show, and we were all blown away. One of my friends said that it was an honor to see the show. We all loved the multi-media and the powerful performances. “- Brenda Tilles Wilensky, CP-NY Board Member
“HUGE congrats on the show. It was, as always, a remarkably moving, evening. I thought the film stuff worked so well - it all just blew me away. big big congrats.”- Ilene Rosen, Director of Marketing, The Public Theater
“It was an honor to be in the Cherry Lane on Saturday night. The work was all we’d expected and more. While the stories were tough to hear, the fact that we were hearing them was testament to the indomitable spirit of your young performers. In short, it was a thrill. And we were equally bowled over by the audience, so rapt in their attention and so respectful of the performers. All in all, a night to truly remember.” -John Dillon Director, Theatre Program, Sarah Lawrence College