Training, performing and playing.
The whole school year.
SFArtsED Players is a dynamic musical troupe founded in 2001. The Players comprise 9-15-year-old public school students who meet after class and Saturdays to work with professional theater artists. Their focus is training in singing, dancing and acting through original musicals and Broadway classics.
These talented kids exhibit enormous discipline and enthusiasm, devoting at least nine hours a week (more when show dates near) to classes and rehearsals. It pays off in fully staged performances that are deeply investigated and thoroughly polished: The Pajama Game, Fiorello! and Carousel and Everything Goes! The Music of Cole Porter since 2009 alone!
Jazz shoes in hand, students of SFArtsED Summer's Broadway Bound program who work hard receive a very special invitation. The aspiring young performers who show enormous enthusiasm, talent and dedication are invited to become Players by the camp's artistic team. As many as 10% of SFArtsED Players go on to audition successfully for the School of the Arts Alternative High School.
Below you'll find the many and varied accomplishments of the SFArtsED Players.
> It's time for Destry to ride.
Tickets for the SFArtsED Players' Destry Rides Again on sale now!. Here is the information you need:
Destry Rides Again runs February 11-26, 2012 at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., 
San F
rancisco, CA 94111
SHOWTIMES:
- Saturday 2/11 & Sunday 2/12 @ 3:00 PM
- Friday 2/17 @ 7:00 PM
- Saturday 2/18 & Sunday 2/19 @ 3:00 PM
- Friday 2/24 @ 7:00 PM
- Saturday 2/25 @ 3:00 PM
- Sunday 2/26 @ 1:00 PM*
Tickets are $15 for students and seniors and $22 general admission
* Tickets for the 1:00 PM show on 2/26 are $40 general, $20 student/senior and include drinks, hors d’ouevres and dessert as part of the Players’ Family Benefit Reception and Closing Day Party
To order tickets contact City Box Office (click here) or call 415.392.4400
For information contact SFArtsED: www.sfartsed.org, 415.551.7990
If you're wondering what Destry is all about and why the SFArtsED Players are doing it, watch this short video, which includes some great footage of the Players in rehearsal.
The Players' production of Destry has been receiving some fantastic press.
ABC-Channel 7's Don Sanchez filed a fantastic report on the show. Click here to watch.
And the San Francisco Chronicle published a great interview with Destry Director and SFArtsED Master Artist Danny Duncan. Read the article here.
> Hoop-de-Dingle? Oh, you betcha
From the looks of things, Destry is going to be one heck of a ride. All that hard work in rehearsal is beginning to pay off for the SFArtsED Players, who have been hard at work turning Destry Rides Again into a piece of musical theater nirvana. To find out more about Destry, a Western-themed musical from the glittering 1959 Broadway season, just scroll down to the next item on this page.
To see the Players work a little of their magic, check out this clip. A group of Players performed a few snippets of Destry for a select group, and their performance only made us want to see more.
> Get ready to ride. The Players saddle up for Destry
When it comes to great Broadway musicals, Destry Rides Again is rarely at the top of anyone's list. Perhaps it should be. This gem of a musical, set in the Old West town of Bottleneck, is a rootin'-tootin' good time. It has a wonderful score by Harold Rome, and it's based on a hoot of a 1939 movie starring Marlene Dietrich and Jimmy Stewart (you can actually watch the whole thing on YouTube). The remarkable Michael Kidd directed and choreographed the original 1959 Broadway production, and though precious little footage exists of that production, there is this choice number, "Are You Ready, Gyp Watson?" from a late '50s television show:
The SFArtsED Players production of Destry Rides Again runs Feb. 11 through 26 at the Eureka Theatre. Check back here for ticket information.
> Brilliant cast of Everything Goes! featured on KGO Channel 7 News
At words poetic we're so pathetic, so we always have found it best...to leave the talking to the experts. We couldn't be more proud of the eloquent members of SFArtsED Players interviewed for KGO Channel 7 News. Artistic Director Emily Keeler and the Players' parents aren't too shabby, either. Take a look for yourself:
Tickets for the final two performances are going fast. Both shows will sell out.
- Saturday, February 12, 2pm
- Sunday, February 13, 2pm
Tickets are $20 general, $15 for seniors and students. Performances are at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco.
Visit City Box Office by clicking here. Questions? Call us at 415.551.7990.
> It's show time! Curtain rises on Everything Goes!
In the still of the night you can begin the beguine. Or you can buy your tickets to Everything Goes! The Music of Cole Porter. There are only six performances. Performance dates and times are:
- Friday, February 4, 7pm
- Saturday, February 5, 2pm
- Saturday, February 5, 7pm
(includes Players Family Benefit Reception hosted by cabaret star Craig Jessup)* - Sunday, February 6, 2pm
- Saturday, February 12, 2pm
- Sunday, February 13, 2pm
Tickets are $20 general, $15 for seniors and students. *Tickets for the Feb. 5 Players Family Benefit Reception are $40. All performances are at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco.
To purchase your tickets, simply visit City Box Office by clicking here. Questions? Call us at 415.551.7990.
Here's another peek behind the scenes of Everything Goes! The Music of Cole Porter:
> Another openin', another show! Rehearsals continue for Everything Goes! Cole Porter would be so proud.
In September 2010, the 54-member Players troupe set their toes a-tappin' and their voices singing. It's a super-sized company this year, so they're taking on the gigantic talents of Cole Porter, one of the foremost authors of the Great American Songbook. The Players are preparing for the February world premiere of Everything Goes! The Music of Cole Porter. We took our cameras behind the scenes for an inside look at the rehearsal process. The first video offers a sampling of three numbers, "Be a Clown," "Friendship" and "It's Too Darn Hot." The second video features the full company working on "Blow, Gabriel, Blow."
> Not that any sculptures were in attendance, but you’d have to be made of stone not to have wept at Carousel.
This performance was headed towards made-for-tissues moments from the time it was conceived. Henry Shin (Conductor/Musical Director) broached the idea that we could tackle the concert version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s favorite musical. We called back 15 Players Alumni from all over the country and more than a few performing arts college programs. And Director Danny Duncan began rallying the troupes for July.
Oh, yes. There’s more: during rehearsals, admission would have been paid to see 9-15 year-old SFArtsED Players coach college performers as their understudies, once the young adults landed in San Francisco. Carousel was performed as it’s rarely seen today, with live musicians: UC Berkeley Summer Symphony. San Francisco’s Conservatory of Music was our stunning venue.
And if that weren’t enough to bring out the tissues, it was also the 10th Anniversary of SFArtsED Players. To two sold out audiences and three more free performances at SOTA (San Francisco School of the Arts) we were in proud awe as 58 Broadway Bound performers as young as 9, fresh from our Summer Camp, celebrated their own personal bests.
We’d like to leave you with a quotation from one of our Players Alumni, Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr.:
“I have SFArtsED to thank for giving me such high level tools at a very young age that have followed me through high school, college, and will follow me in the future.”
Thanks to our performers for their level of commitment, passion and intensity. And thanks to you for supporting all of this.
> The Players celebrates its 1st decade — performing what Time Magazine called the Best Musical of the 20th century — Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel!
Monday, July 19th is a very big deal for SFArtsED Players, Alumni, and the kids who’ve rehearsed long and hard at Summer Camp. They’ll be performing the concert version with the UC Berkeley Summer Symphony. At the stunning San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Plan on being there in a celebratory mood! See the ticket options below and raise a glass with all of us at the VIP Pre Show Reception, sponsored by Taste Catering.
W H E N > July 19, 2010 • Reception @ 6:30pm • Show @ 8:00pm
W H E R E > San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco
click here for the rehearsal schedule - principal performers
click here for the rehearsal schedule - chorus performers
> Our 2010 season: Fiorello!
What would a musical about turn of the century politics be without tap dancing?
Fiorello! debuts in February at the Eureka Theatre, our SFArtsED Players tribute to a Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway musical about New York’s reformist Mayor, Fiorello H. LaGuardia. Along with our glitzy, retro tap number, our 30 Player cast will sing, act and dance. With professional flair and technical staging excellence.
In rehearsal for weeks now with our own Theatrical Director Danny Duncan, our citywide cast of young people are in a state of extreme anticipation to perform live.
Go to cityboxoffice.com. And let the production take you to a heartening political change in early 20th Century New York City! For more info visit our press page.
Under our spotlights:
2010-11
Everything Goes! The Music of Cole Porter
Guys and Dolls
2009-10
Fiorello!
Carousel
2008-09
The Pajama Game
2007-08
The Music Man
2006-07
Wonderful Town
2005-06
Yellow Wood, World premier of original musical by Danny Larsen and Michelle Elliott, recognized with the prestigious Richard Rogers Development Award
2004-05
Between Dirt and Sky, World premier of musical inspired by the life of César Chávez with original music by Lisa Quoresimo and Chuck E. Grey
2003-04
Pinoccho Jones, An original musical by Danny Duncan
Secret Sondheim: A Musical Revue
2002-03
Once Upon a Mattress
ONE, World premier of original musical by Danny Duncan and Randy Craig
2001-02
Happy Ever After: Fairy Tales on Broadway
The Invisible Princess, World premier of original musical by Danny Duncan and Randy Craig
And talk about hands on, participatory learning!
In Collaboration with School of the Arts Alternative High School (SOTA) Technical Theater Program, kids under the direction of Dan Kryston, build and paint all sets. Under costume designer Linda Riccairdi, they produce costumes. And with costume mistress Kathleen Moore they keep show costumes ironed and mended during the run. Our brilliantly energetic kids also help with quick change and make up. Student lighting designers plan lighting for the shows and run the light board. Students design sound and operate the sound board. Our student Stage Manager who is with us the entire run of rehearsals and performances — from September through April — works alongside our directors. These positions of responsibility give students an opportunity to learn by doing. The expectations SFArtsED holds these technical aspects as high as the performances themselves.
It’s a truly immersive environment, yet another one we offer to stimulate expression, sociability and dexterity. Not to mention an exposure to our cultural inheritance that will stay with these kids forever.
SFArtsED Players Artist / Teachers
[See Artists for their extraordinary profiles.]
Emily Keeler > Producer/Choreographer
Camille Olivier-Salmon > District Liaison
Danny Duncan > Director/Playwright-in-Residence
Natalie Greene > Choreographer and Dance instructor
Erin Hewitt > Choreographer and Dance Instructor
Sean Forte > Musical Director
Ben Malkevitch > Accompanist and Vocal Coach
Dan Kryston > Set Designer and SOTA Assistantship Liaison
Beth Hersh > Lighting Designer
Linda Ricciardi > Costume Designer
Kathleen Moore > Costume Mistress
Pailin Murphy >Stage Manager/SOTA Assistantship