June News

It looks as though this month is going to be one of our busiest ever - there seems to be an awful lot going on in a very short space of time! We have the Largs Community Gala Day; “Annie” auditions; The Scottish Blues Brothers fundraising concert; our 5 Minute Theatre project (which is being beamed globally via the internet) and a Bag Pack at Tesco Irvine. All these things are happening over the next couple of weeks! The success of some of these events is going to be directly influenced by the support of parents, families and friends so we would really appreciate it if you could show your support wherever you can.

Largs Community Gala
2500 people, young and old, are expected to attend the Gala on Saturday June 11th 2011 at Largs Academy playing Fields (11.00am - 3.00pm). Entry is free and there will be free activities for under 5's. Purchase of a £5 wristband also provides unlimited access to the many exciting activities: Laser Quest, Moonwalk, Mobile Climbing Wall, Pony Rides, Surf Simulator, Bucking Bronco, Giant Slide, Bouncy Castles, Owls, Table Top Stalls, Local Heroes, BBQ, Entertainment AND LOTS LOTS MORE.

This is a real fun day out that brings together many of the community groups in the town, including Largs Youth Theatre. We will have a stall and our students have been allocated a 15 minute slot on the main stage at 1.45pm. P5-S2 students will be putting on a Blues Brothers Themed Performance to promote our big fundraising show and S5-6 will be performing their 5 Minute Theatre play.

Also, Emma Yeomans, one of our tutor team will be having her lovely long hair cut off on stage to raise money for The Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides real hair wigs for children suffering from cancer and alopecia. This is a really brave thing to do and she will also be donating her hair to the charity, Please show your support for Emma, either on the day or by donating online at www.justgiving.com. Just search on Emma’s name to find her fundraising page.

Students who are performing at the Gala Day should meet at the Largs Youth Theatre stall at 1.30pm prompt.

“Annie” auditions
We mentioned in last month’s newsletter that LYT Productions, the people behind Largs Has Got Talent, are staging a production of “Annie” this coming November. Adult parts are being auditioned from the local community and LYT senior students, whilst child parts are being auditioned exclusively from LYT students. All auditions and rehearsals will happen outside normal classes and the production will be self-financing, with any profits being ploughed back into LYT.

A Junior Cast Audition Workshop will take place next Sunday, June 12th, 2.00-4.30pm at Vikingar! Here we will cast the junior characters and the youth ensemble. Please note that only Largs Youth Theatre members can attend, and it is only open to those currently in Classes Primary 4 to 7.
An Adult Audition Workshop will take place on Monday, June 13th, 7.00-10.00pm at Vikingar! Here we will cast the adult characters alongside the adult ensemble. This is open to anyone over the age of 16 interested in coming along, and also to Largs Youth Theatre members from S1+. So, parents, if you’ve always harboured a secret ambition to tread the boards, this could be your big opportunity!

One part has already been cast. Senior tutor (and co-founder of Largs Youth Theatre), Marianne Yeomans, has been invited by the production team to fulfil a lifelong ambition to play the part of Miss Hannigan, the drunk, cruel, hopelessly romantic tyrant whom all the orphans fear. We feel sure that Marianne will put her heart and soul into this role and will look forward to seeing her on stage in November! Students will be relieved to know that she has promised not to carry this role over into classes!

Tickets will go on sale after the summer holidays.

Fundraising concert – The Scottish Blues Brothers supported by Stars of Largs Has Got Talent
Leading tribute band, The Scottish Blues Brothers (all 10 of them!), have agreed to perform a concert to raise funds for Largs Youth Theatre on Friday, June 17th, supported by some of the Stars of Largs Has Got Talent from the past two years.

This is a real family show (suitable for all ages) and a great treat for Father’s Day weekend. We confidently predict dancing in the aisles! Powered by the spirit of the 1980 motion picture and a massive back catalogue of Blues and Soul masterpieces, the Men in Black faithfully re-visit the seminal anthems and sweet soul music of Jake and Elwood: "Everybody Needs Somebody", Soul Man", "Shake A Tailfeather", "Rawhide" and much, much more.

Tickets are priced at a very reasonable £10 (adults), £8 (concessions) and £30 (family – 2 x adults and 2 x U16s). They’ve not been selling quite as fast as we would like, so please show your support and get your order in now. You can book in five ways:-

1. By returning the booking form distributed in class
2. via the website www.largsyouththeatre.org
3. By calling 07905 668195
4. In person at Vikingar reception
5. At the Largs Community Gala where we will have a stall

Students do not need to be accompanied by an adult, so please tell your friends and come along for a great night out. And if you’re too young to remember the original film from the first time round, go and take a look on YouTube. I guarantee your toes will be tapping within seconds!

National Theatre of Scotland - Five Minute Theatre
We are getting very excited about this project. You may remember that LYT's S5-6 class has been selected to take part in the National Theatre of Scotland's Five Minute Theatre event. This will see them performing a new piece of theatre that is going to be beamed live around the world on the NTS's website.

Largs Youth Theatre is one of small number of groups to be chosen to perform their play live, so an NTS roving film team will be visiting us on June 21 to film our performance.

Our five minute slot has been scheduled for 5.40pm and anyone is welcome to come along to watch the performance being filmed live at Barrfields Theatre. The audience should meet in the Winter Gardens (Vikingar café area) at 5.15pm. Please be aware though that doors will close at 5.30pm and absolutely no-one will be allowed into the theatre after this time. There is no entry fee.

And if you can’t make it to the theatre, you can watch the performance live at www.fiveminutetheatre.com. And please let your friends and families know, especially the ones that live far away!

Tesco Bag Pack – June 26th
We have been offered a bag pack by Tesco Extra in Irvine on Saturday, June 26th. This is an opportunity to raise funds for our Youth Theatre. We hope that each family will be able to provide at least one bag packer for a couple of hours on the day. A tear off slip is attached. I’d be grateful if you could complete this and return it to class next week indicating when you might be available to help. Alternatively, you can call Johann on 07905 668195. I know that this is getting close to the summer holidays, but please think about giving up a couple of hours to help and maybe tying it in with your own shopping. Please note that all U16 students must be accompanied by an adult.

Class times and fees for next session
Priority booking forms and invoices will be sent out during the next fortnight. Prompt return will guarantee your child’s place for next session (we are holding waiting lists for many classes). Any remaining places will be offered out at the enrolment night on August 17th.

As a result of increased demand at S1-S2 level, we are introducing additional classes. We have also taken the decision to amalgamate the S3-4 and S5-6 classes into one larger S3-6 class. Numbers in the older age group do not currently merit having a separate class. However, this will have some effect on existing class times. Details will be on your invoice, but here is some advance notice of new class times:-

Class Tuesday Wednesday
Music Box 3.30-4.15
P1-2 4.15-5.00 3.30-4.15
P3-4 5.00-6.00 4.15-5.15
P5-7 6.30-7.45 5.15-6.30
S1-2 7.45-9.00 7.00-8.15
S3-6 8.15-9.30

As you’ll see, there have been changes to class times for most age groups. You may also notice that:-

• Rather than running two P1-2 classes on Wednesdays, we shall now offer one on Tuesdays and one on Wednesday
• We shall now be running an S1-2 class on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays
• The S3-4 class will no longer run on Tuesdays, but will be replaced by an S3-6 class on Wednesdays.

In most cases (apart from S3-4), your child should still be able to attend classes on the same day as this they did this session, however if the change in times causes you any problems, we will do the best we can to accommodate with an offer of an alternative class. If you have any questions at all, please contact Johann McIntyre on 07905 668195

Regrettably, we will also need to increase fees for the next session. We have been doing our very best to absorb increases in premises hire (17% this year alone), insurance, accountancy fees etc, however the committee has decided that we have no option but to increase our hourly class rate to £5 across the board to cover these costs. Part of the reason that we are focusing so hard on fundraising at present is to try and help limit future increases and maintain our financial reserves, however we are operating in a tough climate. That said, our fees still remain very competitive in comparison with other youth theatres, many of which are subsidised.

Attention all budding scriptwriters in S1+ classes!
We are definitely putting on a production for our P1-5 students in mid October. Since this is Hallowe’en month, we thought it would be good to do something with a “scarey” theme, so we’re giving our older students the chance to develop an idea and script based on their own original idea. We’re running this as a competition with a first prize of £50 and being guest(s) of honour at the production. This is open to all S1+ students, either individually, or in small groups and is something you can work on at home.

The competition deadline is June 30th. Entries can be handed in at class or emailed to info@largsyouththeatre.org.

Largs Has Got Talent 2011
This will be the third year that LYT Productions has run this contest as a fundraiser for LYT and we are confident that it will be an even bigger success this year! Details will be announced shortly, but please get the date in your diary now – Friday, September 2nd.

Child safety
Can I please remind parents of all primary age children, that they must be brought to class (and collected) by an adult. They cannot simply be dropped off at the entrance to Vikingar. Until they arrive at class, they are your responsibility and only become ours when they are signed in to class. I’m sure you will agree that this is a sensible and not unreasonable approach to keeping our younger children safe, so the committee would ask that all parents adhere to it.

Largs Youth Theatre website / Facebook
Our Facebook group “Largs Youth Theatre” is growing fast and now has over 200 fans - please come and join us!