Drama Program – Our Lady of Peace Parish

OLP Children’s Drama Program Proudly Presents

Production

Thursday March 14, 2023
Friday March 15, 2023
Saturday March 16, 2023
Sunday March 17, 2023

This program allows our Parish children attending Notre Dame de Lourdes School or attending OLP Prep program to participate. The program performs an annual Broadway show in the early Spring at the OLP gym. For more information please contact Jackie Basquill; jbasquill@comcast.net

Audition information click here

Aladdin Jr. Synopses click here

Aladdin Jr.Characters click here

Broadway Singers interest form click here

The program encourages: (hover over, tap or click each box to read more)

Self-Confidence

Throughout the rehearsal and performance process, young performers discover how to take creative and emotional sicks and learn to trust their abilities

Communication

During rehearsals, students learn how to articulate their thoughts and questions and carefully listen to direction in order to improve their performance

Imagination

Theater is most dynamic when the imagination of it’s participants are fully engaged. Students make countless interpretive choices in design and performance to create a detailed, fictional world to their audiences

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

The amount of work required to successfully put on a show makes all participants valuable troubleshooters. Whether inventing prompts to remember lines, adjusting staging to show off everyone’s faces, or mastering a tricky scene change, students have countless opportunities to creatively tackle challenges

Public Speaking

Whether performing for their peers during rehearsal or for their school, parish & local community during a performance, students gain expertise and confidence speaking in front of a group

Teamwork

Theater requires extensive creative input from all it’s participants. Students can begin to build positive qualities & skills by working together to rehearse, construct, promote, and perform their show. Every role, lead or ensemble, whether onstage or behind the scenes, is vital for the show’s success

Self-Discipline

Through timely attendance at rehearsals and learning lines, music and choreography on schedule, students require valuable self-discipline techniques and become reliable and trustworthy members of the theater

History of OLP Children’s Drama Program

The Our Lady of Peace Children’s Drama Program began in 1992 through the support of the CYO. This program was initially an activity offered to all the children in the parish. The group mounted a very ambitious lineup of Broadway shows including Oliver, Guys & Dolls, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Cinderella, Sound of Music, Grease and many more. The program was successful in many ways and eventually became an entity functioning independently both financially and self-sufficiently. It continued from 1992 until OLP School closed in 2009. At the height of the program, there were as many as 120 children participating, with performances spanning for six performances over two weekends. After the school closed, the program continued for two more years and was opened to all the Notre Dame School children. The program was suspended for seven years until 2018 when it was resurrected under the direction of Linda Galati Hunt, Jackie Lynch Basquill and Pat Ireland.

All productions are mounted in a fully professional manner, from the point of securing the rights/royalties for these ‘Broadway’ plays from a NY Theater Company, with full performance contracts to holding actual auditions, securing a lighting/sound production company. Every element is managed in the style of a major production. In addition, for each show, sets are designed and built, props are created and gathered, costumes are made or borrowed, a program playbill developed, box offices set up and the curtain goes up for four performances in the Spring. Since 2018 the children have performed, Disney’s Lion King Jr, DreamWorks Shrek the Musical, Disney’s Beauty & the Beast Jr and most recently Disney’s Frozen Jr.

This program has been a huge success due to the dedication, diligence, and overall commitment of the cast, crew and all of its supporters who both participate and attend performances. The children are blessed with amazing talent and their enthusiasm is always contagious.

Stay tuned for more information on our upcoming show of Disney’s Aladdin Jr which will be performed in the Spring of 2024.