Thanks to our Program Sponsors!
Thanks to our sponsors!
MTC Session 3 History
- 2023: SpongeBob
- 2022: Elf JR
- 2021: High School Musical 2 JR
- 2020: Once on this Island JR
- 2019: Camp Rock
- 2018: Aladdin JR
- 2017: Seussical JR
- 2016: The Wiz
- 2015: Shrek
- 2014: Legally Blonde JR
- 2013: Footloose
- 2012: Grease
MTC Staff
- Lindsay Porter - Director and Choreographer
- Nich Palumbo - Choreographer
- Joe Oblon - Technical Director
- Maureen Ruhe - Musical Director
- Rachel Herbst-Vasas - Costume Director
- Stefanie Szawerda - Creative Director
Special Thanks To
- Rowan O'Hara for planning the mic script and running the soundboard
- Cali Ruhe for playing back music
- Edison Middle School for the bubble machines
- Heather Bazinet for some wonderful props
- Cirillo Summer theater for some props
- Christopher Vasas for building our rotating stage
- Carolyn Daniels, camp director
- John and Steve of the Meriden YMCA for their continued support of this program
- Joel and all the Y employees who set up our MYTent each season
- All our MYT families for choosing MTC and Mountain Mist as your child's summer camp
- CMI Sound and Advanced Lighting Solutions
Director's Note
Thank you for coming to share the best day ever with us! We are so excited to put on SpongeBob for you tonight! Over the last year, a main focus for the MYT staff has been teaching students to develop and embody characters. The characters in SpongeBob are iconic. I grew up with them, the performers grew up with them. There are certain nuances each character possesses making them each different and unique for a performer. I thought this would be a hard task because of how specific the characters were. But as the rehearsal process continued I noticed I was giving more notes about where to stand, how to move about the stage or what to do with their hands rather than instructing character development because the performers did it naturally. They were not only acting as caricatures but also humanizing them which is what I thought the Broadway version did so brilliantly. Working in the round is no small feat. As an actor, you have to constantly be on top of your game because the audience can see every angle making it difficult to hide in the background. As a director, you have to ensure that every audience member has a good show no matter where they are sitting. This marks MYT’s second Marquee production, this year combining the teen program with the staff, alumni and adults. I have loved watching the students learn from the adults as well as watching the adults learn from the students. My hope is to continue to build this program each year so we can continue to grow as performers and continue to learn from one another. Enjoy the show!