April 4, 2017

Our Theatre Camps are So EPIC.

Are you looking to host a Theatre Camp this summer? Book a week with us! For $2500 our trained camp teachers will work with 30 young people for 1-week on creating their own scenes. The students will write, direct, costume, design and star in their very own short plays. During that week, they will also learn many valuable lessons & tools in the basics of theatre. Camps are a great way to raise money for any organization and a great way to involve your community in the arts!

Call or email us today to book your camp now! Call 336.558.7360 or email booking@brightstartheatre.com.

We can’t wait to see you!

 

March 28, 2017

Lessons & Laughter–Our Specialty!

What is more fun than laughter? Nothing! At Bright Star, our mission is letting young people learn important lessons and encouraging them have a great time while doing so. Your students will walk away from our shows filled with knowledge & joy every time. We are very passionate about what we do and we want to share that with you.
Want us to bring some laughter to you and your school, library, theatre or town? Give us a call or send us an email! If you mention this blog post, we’ll even give you $100 off if you book a new show that takes place between now and May 31st!
We can’t wait to watch your audience roll with laughter!?
Booking Phone: 336.558.7360, Booking Email: booking@brightstartheatre.com.

 

January 31, 2017

Bright Star’s Wizard of Oz Summer Camp!

Starting this summer 2017 we are sending Bright Star Theatre Camps on the road!

Our theatre camps are available in two structures:

Structure #1

– Creative Dramatics: In this camp, we welcome students and introduce them to the world of theatre with all kinds of theatre games from stage directions to storytelling. Throughout the week we work with students to create characters and develop scenes. Our actor/educators oversee the work and direct students as they grow in their abilities. By the end of the week, campers produce their scenes for friends and families. The cost of this camp is $3995.

Structure #2

– Full Production: In this camp, the students are more focused on creating a full production and after a week of work end with an original 45-minute production of the Wizard of Oz. While there are many opportunities for drama games and creativity, the real focus is on how to cooperate with the others in a cast and learn to create a show. Here we provide scenic elements, costume pieces, script and direction. This week ends with a public performance of the show for friends and families. The cost of this camp is $4995.

This also acts as a great school/organization fundraiser! The average cost of a week-long day camp in America is $306.00. So even if you were to charge $250/student for this camp and attract 30 students of the 35 available slots that’s a total of $7500.00 profit! 

Just ask and we may be able to help you find funding through local businesses, arts councils, etc.

In either camp any money made from ticket sales, advertising opportunities in the programs or poster, camp fees would belong to you as the producing organization.

Our prices are all-inclusive with two instructors, lodging, transportation all provided.

Please let us know what else we can answer for you on this end. We would love the opportunity to serve you!

-Bright Star Theatre: booking@brightstartheatre.com

January 25, 2017

We’re Headed Back to Europe!

Bright Star is thrilled to announce that we have shows in Europe again this spring! We’ll be galavanting across the continent from Russia to Germany and everywhere in between. We are so excited to be able to bring shows of anti-bullying and literary classics to audiences across the globe.

That’s not all, you know… we teach camps and workshops, too. Do you want us to visit classrooms and teach theatre games? We can! Do you want us to host a teaching workshop on incorporating theatre into the classroom? We will! Want us to host 20-25 students in a week-long camp? We would love to! (This also acts as a great school fundraiser, by the way:)

You could be the next stop on our global tour!?

If you’d like us to visit your school in Europe or anywhere else in the world, send us an email now: booking@brightstartheatre.com.

See you soon!?✈️?

 

 

December 31, 2016

Celebrating Black History in 2017!

Bright Star is gearing up for one of our favorite times of the year; our Black History Series! This year will be our biggest year yet with 7 different tours comprised of 14 actors traveling all across the country. We are returning some of our favorite shows like “George Washington Carver and friends” and “Let it Shine: The American Civil Rights Movement,” as well as a slew of brand new shows that will excitedly be making their world premier!

As we ring in 2017, we hope to educate, entertain, and inspire our audiences, youth to adults, to change the world. If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has taught us one thing, it’s that one person truly can make a difference. We hope that his legacy will continue to motivate us all, not just throughout February, but the entire year, to be the absolute best version of ourselves possible.

So whether you live in Tacoma, Washington or New Haven, Connecticut, odds are we have a tour coming your way! From Black History, to anti-bullying, Bright Star has a show to educate and entertain audiences of all ages! For more information on our Black History Series, or any of the other shows offered year round, please contact us at booking@brightstartheatre.com and we would be happy to help! Above all else, happy new year!

November 8, 2016

Election Day!??

We sure are hoping you all get out there and exercise your right to vote today!

Happy Election Day, everyone!??

 

(And for those of you who saw our show USA to Z this fall about our government and the election, we sincerely hope you enjoyed it!)

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November 1, 2016

Happy November 1st?

Tis the season to break out your cozy sweaters, savor your final drops of a Pumpkin Spice Latte, shop for next year’s discounted Halloween decorations and book your Christmas program with Bright Star!

Our show Christmas with Santa is bound to be a hit with any audience. Join two fun Christmas Elves as they lose a sack of Santa’s Christmas presents and their quest to get them back. During their journey, they find out what the true meaning of Christmas is all about. Bring this show into your school, library, church, community event, family reunion, Christmas party, charity event or wherever else you want a crowd pleaser!

Call us today to make sure Santa makes his way to you for this show!?

336.558.7360 or email booking@brightstartheatre.com!

October 31, 2016

?Happy Halloween from Bright Star!

Ichabod Crane & Katrina Van Tassel wanted to wish all of you a very Happy Halloween 2016!

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Here are some fun Halloween facts to read while you’re munching on some candy:

1. The first Jack-O-Lanterns were made from turnips, not pumpkins!

2. The word ‘witch’ actually means ‘wise woman’ in old English.

3. Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.

4. Ireland is believed to be the birthplace of Halloween.

5. The record for most Jack-o-Lanterns lit at once happened in Boston, MA.

6. Halloween is one of Bright Star’s favorite holidays!

Have a safe and happy Halloween, everyone!???

October 25, 2016

Have you picked your holiday show?

Well, have you?! We only have a few openings left on our holiday tours! You better book fast!

Are you looking for a way to celebrate holidays from many different cultures this season? Book our show Holidays Around the World best for grades K-5 for your school. It is such a popular show we have it on 3 different tours this November & December!

*Book a show today: booking@brightstartheatre.com or call us: 336.558.7360!

August 10, 2016

Showcasing at United Arts

Are you going to be at the United Arts Performer’s Showcase in Raleigh this weekend? SO ARE WE! We are proud to present two amazing performers showcasing snippets of two of our favorite Black History programs: Struggle for Freedom: The Life of Dr. King and Let it Shine: The American Civil Rights Movement.

Come check us out on Saturday at our booth and chat with us in person. We can’t wait to see you there!

 

Meet Dr. King

August 3, 2016

Need an anti-bullying show?

Need a good way to kick off the school year? You need an anti-bullying program!

This fall we have several great shows to choose from with anti-bullying themes:

–The Lady of Bullyburg, a fairytale show

–The Pirate of Bully Bay, a swashbuckling adventure

–The Velveteen Rabbit, the classic story with a modern twist

–Captain Friendship and the Bully Bandit, a super hero’s story

–Bullysaurus Rex, a dinosaur story

–Bullied, a realistic telling of what many teens deal with everyday

–Maximus Mars, an out-of-this world experience

–One Noble Knight, a knight’s journey to nobility

–It Takes Courage, people throughout history who overcame great odds

Whatever you need, we have you covered!

Book your show today through: booking@brightstartheatre.com or by calling 336.558.7360!

July 26, 2016

QUICK! Check Your Mailbox!

Get ready! Our brochures will be hitting your mailboxes starting on Monday and we couldn’t be more excited!

The only catch is that our shows are selling out fast, so you had better find that show you can’t wait to see and get it on our books pronto.

Some of our most popular shows this fall are USA to Z (a political gameshow), Bullysaurus Rex (an anti-bullying dinosaur adventure) and Holiday Songs: Music Around the World (a celebration through music of holidays around the globe). And these are just 3 of 56 fabulous programs that your young audience can’t wait to see!

So go grab yourself a mocha latte, find a comfy seat and lose yourself in our brochure highlighting all of your favorites. What are you waiting for?!? ☕️✏️?

July 20, 2016

Our Longest Running Show!

Have you ever seen our production of The Lady of Bullyburg? If you have, you have seen Bright Star’s longest running show ever!

This acclaimed anti-bullying fairy tale is celebrating 13 years on the road this fall! Schools and educators across the country have heralded this production with literally changing the climate of their school. Join ‘Lady Kindness’ as she saves her town from a visiting bully while learning a variety of empowering tools along the way.

This anti-bullying classic is the perfect kick-off to your school year.

Book now for a few open dates in October! This one’s selling out fast. There’s a reason it’s been around so long!?

336.558.7360 or email: booking@brightstartheatre.com TODAY!

July 13, 2016

Bright Star and Virginia PTA Meet in Richmond

We’re pleased to announce that, for the first time ever, we will be attending the Virginia PTA  Leadership Training and Annual Conference.  In fact, I’ll be packing up my vehicle and preparing for tomorrow’s trip as soon as this blog is complete! The 2016 Conference will be held at the Richmond Marriott Downtown and will take place July 14th through the 16th.

For several years, Bright Star has had a great relationship with Virginia schools, visiting the state dozens of times each year and often returning to the same schools year after year. In fact, yesterday I had an opportunity to talk with one of our PTA sponsors in Northern Virginia who has booked us every year since I started working with Bright Star four years ago. They will be bringing us back this year for one of our Black History Programs.  It is always such a pleasure to have a continuing relationship with PTA members who are seeking great programs for their local schools.

I hope to meet many more wonderful PTA members at this week’s conference and find more great schools that we can visit year after year!  If you will be attending the Virginia PTA Conference this week, please stop by and see me at Booth 49.  I’ll be there with lots of great information about all of our 2016-2017 shows which include Anti-bullying Adventures, Science Shows, Black History Programs, Literary Classics, Holiday Celebrations and more (even a show that I am incredibly excited about which covers the founding of the U.S. and how elections work–with a game show format)!

Richmond, Virginia here I come!

Erin Schmidt, Director of Development

July 5, 2016

New Adventures in Anti-Bullying

Bright Star’s Fall Tours are often full of spectacularly colorful and adventure filled anti-bullying programs. Well, this year is no different! Invite your students to learn the importance of treating everyone with respect and kindness all while laughing with dinosaurs or defending a kingdom with knights and wizards! This year Bright Star has developed two brand new plays for different age groups that portray the serious effects of bullying while equipping students with tools to defeat bullying at your school.

Bullysaurus Rex (best for grades PreK-5th). Our play focuses around Terri Dactyl, the new dinosaur on the block and her struggle to be accepted by Bullysaurus Rex, the biggest and most powerful dinosaur. While Bullysaurus Rex combats her with everything he’s got, she does meet some friendly faces such as Treyceratops, a friendly dino who happens to get bullied too, and for no reason at all! Then there is Gregosaurus, a hilarious salesman who’s got the cure for just about everything, including some terrific ways to deal with bullies. This show also empowers those who see bullying happening to say something and put a stop to it altogether!

One Noble Knight (best for grades 3rd-8th). In a distant kingdom ruled by the cruel Queen Edda, one noble knight must unexpectedly rise to the task of defeating her bullying ways. With the help of the wise wizard, Waldermar, and the Queen’s comedic servant, Bumbleworth, Sir Sterling, our knight, will learn to overcome all obstacles in order to save the kingdom and all its people. Sterling will use the tools he learns along his epic journey in order to handle this bully and stay kind and loyal to his Queen. This more serious and fantastical look at bullying will teach your older grades the importance of respect and leadership!

We are certain that these two new anti-bullying shows are bound to amaze your young audience while teaching them one of the most important lessons, respect for one another.

June 30, 2016

Actor Spotlight – Tour 16

Hello, we are pleased as punch to proudly present to you our actors from our Summer Tour 16!

Meet Sherman Lee Sutton, a veteran Bright Star Performer from Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a Theatre Performance degree and a minor in Vocal Performance.

Meet Hannah Storch from Cleveland, Ohio, a first timer to Bright Star but she has taken to the material like a pro. She graduated from Kent State University with a degree in Theatre and English.

This amazingly talented crew is performing some hilarious, Upcycled Cinderella, high energy, The Greatest: Sports Heroes A to Z and some very educational and inspiration programs, Jackie Robinson. We can’t wait to see where their summer adventure takes them! And we wish them all the best on the road.

June 30, 2016

Bright Star at ALA 2016!

We had the most amazing time at the ALA (American Library Association) Annual Conference & Expo in Orlando, FL this past weekend! We met a lot of really awesome librarians, saw many sponsors who bring us in every year, got a load of some extravagant booths and library technology, saw one of our favorite librarians ever that we work with in St. Petersburg, Russia each year and even took a selfie with Paula Poundstone! It was quite a whirlwind. (Check out the pics below:)

If you were at the conference this past weekend, you may remember us from the character ‘Granny’ that greeted everyone who crossed paths with our booth.

We had a great time and can’t wait to see you all again in Chicago 2017!

BRIGHT STAR LOVES OUR LIBRARIANS! ⭐️❤️⭐️❤️⭐️

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June 29, 2016

Actor Spotlight – Tour 17

Hello World!

We are so excited to introduce our Actors for our Summer Tour 17 who recently hit the road to perform The Velveteen Rabbit, Aesop’s Fables, and Once Upon a Time…

Meet Alex Bates from Florence, Alabama and currently studying theatre at Jacksonville State University.

Meet Joseph Johnson from Charlotte, North Carolina and currently studying performing arts at North Carolina A&T State University.

These talented actors have worked with Bright Star in past seasons and we are so thrilled that they were available to re-join the Bright Star Family! They each bring such energy and comedy to their shows. We can’t wait for the reviews to come pouring in.

June 15, 2016

Time to Find the Perfect School Assembly

This is an exciting time of year at Bright Star.  We’re gearing up for our 2016-2017 season of professional, touring productions and this year we have 50 amazing plays to plan for, including 7 brand new shows: Alice in Wonderland, Bullysaurus Rex, One Noble Night, USA to Z,  Holiday Songs: Music Around the World, Building Stories and Gus Goes Green: A STEM Adventure! That’s a lot of costumes, props and sets!  We cannot wait to finish up our T-Rex Costume, our Cheshire cat and our Patriotic Prizes for USA to Z, which is a game-show-themed program about our government and elections (just in time for the big election in 2016)!

With the school year wrapping up, administrators and teachers have a chance to plan their assemblies for the following year. This means that we have a chance to reconnect with some of our favorite sponsors from all across the country–and beyond. Just today, we’ve had the joyful opportunity of speaking with school sponsors in North and South Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Tennessee and even Germany! There have been many smiles and great conversations about which of our 45-minute plays will best suit their school’s needs. Some of the sponsors we’ve spoken to today have been choosing Bright Star shows every year for several years and we’ve received so much positive feedback about the quality of our performances and how their students excitedly await another visit from Bright Star actors. Some have even been taking advantage of our special rate for bringing in 4 different assemblies throughout the year for $2500 ($625 per assembly). It is truly a joy to help schools find the perfect program for every occasion; whether it’s an anti-bullying show to kick off the school year, a holiday celebration, a Black History program, a literary classic or a STEM show.

We look forward to hearing from even more of our loyal sponsors and, of course, from schools who are bringing in their first Bright Star play. It’s going to be another great year of bringing professional theatre to young audiences everywhere!

Erin Schmidt, Director of Development

June 7, 2016

Success in Europe

The team is back together again and with amazing news from their travels in Europe. The 58th Annual European PTA Conference was a great success. We made new friends with many of the American Schools based in Germany, Italy, Sicily, Spain and more!  Erin and Reeni performed their version of Aesop’s Fables to a packed out house who by the end was quoted as saying, “We have never seen anything like this. You all were so good! We can’t wait to bring you in!” The entire weekend was fun, encouraging and informative.  Check out the Bright Star Video from our performance and for more information about our international touring opportunities, please visit our website here, //brightstartheatre.com/other-programs/.

Explore Our Current Tours