MYP to announce Second Stage
In the News
When students age out of the Maryville Young Players after entering ninth grade, director Vanessa Parsons said their biggest lament is that they can’t continue with the program.
Starting this summer, those students – and many others – will have the opportunity to experience the MYP style of production.
Near the beginning of May, MYP will officially announce the creation of Second Stage, an opportunity for alumni of MYP and just about anyone else from high school age and up to put on a show in much the same format as MYP.
Parsons said Second Stage would borrow many elements of MYP, but with one major upgrade.
“We’re going to be doing full shows with Second Stage,” Parsons said. “Because of the age requirements of MYP, we do shows in the Broadway Junior series, but with Second Stage, we can put on full shows.
“Other than that, it will be much the same; we’ll cast the show and give our actors the materials they need to learn the show, then we’ll get together for two weeks, two to three hours a night, and put it all together.”
This year’s show will be “Hello, Dolly!,” and it will be performed at the end of July at the new Lee and Nina Schneider Center for the Performing Arts. Parsons said “Hello, Dolly!” was a perfect show to start Second Stage with.
“It’s a show we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Parsons said. “It’s a classic, but there’s no junior version of it, so we couldn’t do it.
“For Second Stage, we wanted to do something that would give us an opportunity to introduce the kids to a classic show that we wouldn’t be able to do in MYP. This way, we get to do the full show.”
Parsons, along with her husband Tye and friends Patrick and Terri Immel, came up with the idea for MYP, and after 10 years of putting on those shows, also produced the idea for Second Stage. But instead of directing both shows, Parsons will be taking a step back and handing the directorial reins of Second Stage to another long-time friend.
Marilyn Rhea, formerly the vocal music director at Maryville High School, will be directing “Hello, Dolly!” this summer. Rhea has directed several shows while at Maryville High School.
Second Stage will be open to anyone over the age to be eligible for Maryville Young Players, including high school students, college students, and any other adult community members. More information will be available after the MYP audition and registration process ends, around the beginning of May.