About
CMT's capstone program is its “Main-stage” Summer Musical program - a five week, theatre art-intensive program that targets young people, ages 7-17, living within a 40 mile radius of Bartlesville. Our artistic goal is to teach students the necessary skills to perform on stage in a full-scale, Broadway-style musical.
Who, What, When, and How
Auditions are held in the spring and selected by artistic staff. The selected cast begins rehearsals in early June with four performances occurring mid-July at the Bartlesville Community Center. Students are not charged a fee to audition and do not pay tuition for the five weeks of professional theatre training. Typical cast sizes for the main-stage musical are between 70-85 students. The process culminates in a full-scale musical on the stage of the Bartlesville Community Center with full orchestra, performing before audiences ranging in number from 2500 – 4000 people. The program is supported through grants, business sponsorships, a huge base of cast family and community volunteers, and ticket sales for the four performances.
Value
CMT hires a professional artistic staff from outside the Bartlesville area to give students exposure to directors and instructors with national experience. Cast members learn character development, storyline continuity, basic acting skills, blocking techniques and terminology, theater terminology, basic and advanced choreography, and choral and solo music technique. This training helps students improve their acting, singing and dancing skills plus enhances their memorization skills, reading skills, interpersonal relationships and organization skills. Students also improve multi-tasking by combining acting, singing and dancing. All educational aspects of our programs are geared toward students’ ages and ability. Performing arts experiences enhance the student growth in self-confidence, self-control, self-identity, conflict resolution, collaboration, empathy, teamwork, and social tolerance. Cast members are challenged to stretch the limits of their talents whether they are first time performers (approximately 40% of the cast are new each year) or seasoned veterans.
Beyond the Stage
The main-stage musical is a quality training program that prepares young people who wish to pursue professional careers in musical theatre by giving them lead role experience and quality training that prepares them to compete in larger metropolitan areas. Since 2000, 43 CMT alumni are pursuing professional careers in musical theatre, music, dance, theatre, and production related fields.
