Outreach Theatre Programs

North Canton Playhouse has a variety of Outreach Theatre Programs, including Encore Players, for creative individuals over 50, Spotlight on Youth, which illustrates issues facing our young people, and VSA Arts of Ohio, providing individuals of all ages with disabilities access to theatrical programs and productions.

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Encore Players

Developed in 1997 as the Senior Troupe outreach program, it provided means for developing the unique qualities of a talent base for ages 50 and older. The Senior Troupe program understood and showcased the unique needs and skills of seniors.The Senior Troupe provided exciting opportunities for men and women to renew creative skills or discover new ones. In addition to acting and performing, there are many other options for participants, include set building and design, directing, props, costumes, singing, dancing or playwriting. Now, the Senior Troupe is known as the Encore Players and is available to participants of all ages!

This group is not limited to the North Canton Playhouse stage! The Encore Players puts on variety shows that are appropriate for retirement homes, AARP groups and all types of community organizations.

One creative segment of the Encore Players is the third segment of the Troupe is the staged reading series, Footprints of a Pilgrim. A cast of five tells the life story of Ruth Bell Graham, Billy Graham’s wife, as told through her journals and writings. This program is excellent for church or spiritual groups.

Gale Spatafore, Encore Players Coordinator
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Spotlight on Youth (SOY)

AUDITIONS:  we will be holding second auditions on July 1st, at 6pm  for our 2013-2014 season at the North Canton Playhouse mainstage!

We are very proud that Spotlight on Youth (SOY),  the oldest educational outreach program of the North Canton Playhouse, has reached over 241,000 students in Northeastern Ohio in its 17 year history. This program uses live dramatic presentations, portraying real life situations, to illustrate social issues and dangers affecting the lives of our young people today. This interactive drama has proven to be a most effective teaching tool, eliciting emotional responses which are vivid, understandable and lasting.

Spotlight on Youth has added the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, as a satellite facility. Spotlight is seeking other community theatres, in the other ten counties funded by the Ridgecliff Foundation, to be part of our program as well.

Spotlight on Youth has completed over 1,100 performances with nearly $600,000 in grants and donations. The task has been made lighter with the support of groups such as the Stark County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board, the Ridge Cliff Foundation, the Henry and Louise Timken Foundation, and Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton.

Era Lynn Tripp, Executive Director
Mary McManaway, Artistic Director
Kami Stanley, Admin. Asst.
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VSA Arts of Ohio / Stark County Service Division

The Stark County Service Division of VSA Arts established its local representation as an outreach of the North Canton Playhouse in 1995. They provide children and adults, with and without disabilities, the opportunity to share creativity through all of the arts. VSA Arts of Ohio promotes self-esteem, cultural awareness and self-determination.

VSA Arts of Stark County has partnered with Stark County MRDD and The Workshops, Inc. to present programming that focuses on inclusion in the performing arts. In the past, large scale musicals were presented honoring Disabilities Awareness Month. One musical won the 18th Annual Media Access Disability Awareness Award for Live Theatre, presented by the California Governor’s Committee for Employment of Disabled Persons.

Held annually each August, the VSA Arts offers Camp Jukebox, a week long day camp of singing, drama and dance for individuals aged 8-25 with disabilities. Camp Jukebox marked its 10th anniversary in 2007. Other programming, local and national, is offered throughout the year by VSA Arts of Ohio and the Stark County Service Division.

Norma Capocci, Representative, Stark County Service Division
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