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Dedicated to the child performer, instilling a love of theatre while building leadership and community. We work for the kids!

In appreciation of all the hard work from our
super dedicated volunteers!

2012 Theatre Angels:

Karen Frech Waltermire, Marcia Patterson, Jennifer Banasik, Jean Toth, Ken Gengel, Tony Herman, Paul Alandt for the Kiwanis Club, Kim Techner, Diana Robertson-Friend,
Cheryl Gruden, Nancy Ballard, Jennifer Bretz,
and Christine Waybright-Strickland.

2012 Joey Award:
Ally Rollins

2012 Inaugural Good Egg Award:
Jerry Seppelt, for believing in UpStage and securing funding for us.

2012 Special Presentation:
-Forest City for 17 years of printing our tee shirts

Keep in touch during one of our upcoming events:
June 9th and 10th: Relay for Life at Euclid High School
October: Murder Mystery Auditions
November: UpStage Workshop
December: Auditions!
Tell us what you think we should perform on our Guestbook!

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upcoming events!

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Upstage Players is a non-profit professional children's theatre group run by an all volunteer staff near Cleveland, Ohio. We were founded in 1995 with 30 children and a vision to create love and respect for the arts. We have evolved into a strong group that uses theatre as a vehicle to teach leadership, creativity, and responsibility to nearly 150 children today! Although our family has grown tremendously over the years, our no-cut policy remains unchanged. Every child can and will be adopted into the Upstage family!

The children we serve come from varied backgrounds and communities, but share the drive to optimize their potential.

Upstage Players attracts individuals from Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Bratenahl, Euclid, Eastlake, Lakewood, Mayfield, Mentor, Richmond Heights, Willoughby, Concord and Willowick. Our diverse cast and crew is lead by an unpaid,
all volunteer staff and supported by an army of volunteers dedicated to transforming everyday kids into accomplished artists!

Upstage Players provides many benefits for our artists, including building self confidence, encouraging self-esteem, providing social outlets, promoting responsibility and leadership, as well as providing a fun safe haven. In addition to its artistic value, UpStage Players brings communities together and gives kids something to do.

We have numerous shows throughout the year including a spring musical, murder mysteries, and upstage underground summer show.

Upstage is dedicated to the development of the Child Actor/Actress!

Our performances take place at the beautiful
Slovenian Workman Home
15335 Waterloo, Rd
Cleveland, OH 44110

We're newsworthy!!!

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Click HERE to check out the latest article about us

in Cool Cleveland!

And click HERE for the Collinwood Observer

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UpStage Players to go Technicolor

By Jeff Piorkowski jpiorkowski@sunnews.com

Upstage's new home is the Slovenian Workmen's Home, 15335 Waterloo Road in Cleveland. The group's leadership is thrilled to be at that locale.
"Theater is alive and flourishing on Waterloo Road," said the theater troop's artistic director Carrie Walsh-Hilf. "All of the artistic organizations on this

street have embraced us. Jerry Schmidt, who has the Waterloo 7 art gallery was wonderful. He hosted a fund-raiser for us. The Slovenian home has also been very welcoming to us."

Walsh-Hilf said the stage upon which Upstage will perform has been dark about 20 years and that the Slovenian Home management is happy to have activity within its walls once more.

"They have an ancient fly system here (mechanicals above the stage) that all still work perfectly. Our lighting and sound operator John Perovsek, who's Slovenian and from this area, was able to translate all the instructions for us that are written on the stage's the pulley system."
Bernadette Walsh, the former Euclid councilwoman who founded Upstage Players, spoke about Waterloo Road, which features art galleries, the

Beachland Ballroom and music stores, now adding live theater.

"All of this shows that artists can make a collaborative community come alive," she said.

From April 3-5, this year's cast of young actors, ages 5-17, will present "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Cast members hail from Euclid, Mayfield Heights, Cleveland, Willougby and Eastlake.
"It was the play we did our first year when we started at St. Jerome's (Church)," Walsh-Hilf said. "That was in 1986. I was in that play as Simeon.'

I was in the seventh grade."

It was 15 years ago the troop moved to the Bratenahl Community Center, where it first took the Upstage Players name.
"This is basically a Bible story about Joseph and how he can interpret dreams and how his brothers get jealous of him because of that," Walsh-Hilf

said. "He ends up being a partial ruler of Egypt. It's a fun, upbeat musical."

"It's the first play (Andrew) Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice wrote," Bernadette Walsh said. "It started as a 15-minute play for one of their kids at his

school."

"Joseph" features some offbeat components one might not expect from a Bible story. For example, the cast includes 1960's-style go-go dancers

and a pharaoh who is also part Elvis.

Joseph DeNardo, 11, of Mayfield Heights, plays the pharaoh, watching Elvis Presley in his movie "King Creole" and listening to the King's recordings to get a feel for the character, which he plays in an outfit influenced by Elvis's 1970's jumpsuits.
"My dad is a big fan of Elvis, but I like him, too," said DeNardo, who appears to have the hip-swiveling part of his character down. "This is my first

time singing on a stage. The only time I've sung before this was in my room."

Rachel Kuklinca, 17, is an Upstage veteran. She is portraying two roles, "Potiphar's wife," a seductress trying to woo Joseph, and the good spouse "Rueben's wife."
"That's the best thing about this place (Upstage)," Kuklinca said of the challenge of playing two diverse roles in one play, "they teach you how to

do things like this."

Kuklinca, a Euclid High School student who plans to major in theater in college, said she's love being part of Upstage.
"You become a whole different person out there onstage," she said. "Everyone comes together and you become one giant family."
Call (216) 731-5793. Call Piorkowski at (216) 986-5862.

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UpStage Players moving to Waterloo
By Jeff Piorkowski jpiorkowski@sunnews.com Euclid Sun Journal
Waterloo Road in Cleveland will be the new home of the children's theater group Upstage Players. Upstage Director Carrie Walsh-Hilf said that troupe will move into the Slovenian Workmen's Home, 15335 Waterloo Road. The group's leaders have wanted to be among the artists and shops that have opened on Waterloo in recent years. "We're excited to go there, and they're very excited about us," said Walsh-Hilf, a Euclid resident. "They haven't had theater-type performances on their stage for quite a while." She said the rent is affordable and the parking lot meets Upstage's needs."It's still an active club that has events, like fish fries. We went to one and they were very friendly to us. They're very neighborly. They want to work with us." She and her sisters grew up in the Collinwood area and went to grade school at St. Jerome School. "It's really a breath of fresh air to be in an area where we're working side by side with artists. We feel we have an opportunity to make a difference in this neighborhood," she said.The 15-year-old Upstage Players was formed by Walsh-Hilf's mother, former Euclid councilwoman Bernadette Walsh. It's for youngsters ages 7-15, and there are no fees to join. Parents of the young actors often work on costumes and scenery for the productions. Those young actors come from the entire area, from the west side of Cleveland all the way out east to Concord Township.