The Artists' Studio

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The Artists' Studio, frequently abbreviated TAS, was founded by David and Joellyn Young in January, 2003 as an independent for-profit community theatre. The couple each have experience on Broadway with David being a musical director and voice teacher who has traveled with Broadway shows such as Camelot, South Pacific, and The Music Man^[1] while Joellyn has most notably been Eva Peron in Evita.^[2] The theatre, located in Fishers, Indiana is primitively based as it was renovated from a night club^[3] and a stage was added. Despite being in Fishers, Noblesville considers TAS to be one of its own places of interest.^[4] The proscenium stage is made of classic design and allows for a variety of different trims to be placed around as well as the movement of the back wall, though there is no fly space. The remaining space allows for a 220-seat house complete with sound and lighting systems, office space, and classrooms.^[5] Cast, crew, and various other members are volunteers with few employed within the productions themselves.^[6]

1 History
- 1.1 The First Years
  - 1.1.1 Annie
  - 1.1.2 Rocky Horror
- 1.2 Shift into Family Theatre
2 Beyond the Stage
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The First Years

The seasons of The Artists' Studio have thus far consisted of 8 shows, including a holiday show, and for the first several years, a "young artists production" for aspiring actors and actresses ages 13-25. Of the several years the young artists' production took place, the first and last were Grease. The seasons normally end at the start of summer, picking up again shortly after. Sometime in the summer, the theatre holds General Auditions,^[7] that is, auditions for the entire season, though each show normally gets its own as well. Audition notices tend to get notoriety in many papers, such as the Indianapolis Star.^[8] Several shows became traditional over the years, primarily due to popularity, and The Artists' Studio began to further embrace them. Ironically, the two major influencing shows within the Artists' Studio's early years were in stark contrast to each other. Each of the two was actually closely linked to different holidays, as Annie was traditionally used as a Christmas show and The Rocky Horror Show was used around Halloween, usually boasting a midnight performance on or around Halloween itself.

[edit] Annie

Annie was used as the annual Holiday show until 2006, when it was set to be replaced by Christmas Windows, a compilation Christmas musical, which replaced to the original show, Scrooge, The Musical^[9] for undisclosed reasons. This was the second year in a row The Artists' Studio dropped a show around December, as in 2005 they lost the rights to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat after announcing it in their 2005-2006 season. Daddy Warbucks, the lead male character of Annie, was played by Jay Meisenhelder^[10] every year with exception to the final performance, where he was not taken back as a result of controversy.^[11]^[12] Currently, this is the record for the amount of consecutive recurring appearances by any actor in a role at TAS. Annie also was the first show at The Artists' Studio to have 2 casts, a Cast A and B, though it was only for the children involved in the show. This became common practice for all the later productions of Annie and set the precedent for future shows requiring a children's cast.

[edit] Rocky Horror

The record set by Meisenhelder can thus far still be surpassed by Brent Marty, a known director in Indiana, for his recurring role as Dr. Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show.^[13] Rocky Horror is the only other prominently recurring show^[14] in the theatre's thus short lifetime having been held three times, with a season going by between the second and third incarnations. Shannon Fields and Pietre Nordell have also been involved in all three productions of the show, both in an ensemble position, though Shannon would be Magenta in the final two. Oddly, Shannon would marry Nick Rehmel,^[15] who played Rocky in the second and third, while Nils Nordell, Pietre's father, would be the Narrator in the first and second. When Nils and Pietre were working together, they comprised the oldest and youngest members of the cast, respectively. Also, Nils and Tim Garland were the only two members to be in both Annie and Rocky Horror, though neither would be in more than the first two productions of each. The first incarnation The Rocky Horror Show at TAS was considered one of the best shows of the 2003 in Indiana.^[16]

[edit] Shift into Family Theatre

Annie sold better as a whole than any previous production, though the first Halloween showing of Rocky Horror marked the first show to sell out. After Annie continued as a success for several years, the theatre began casting more and more children in shows that required a children's cast. This included adding more children into shows that didn't necessarily ask for them, such as being urchins in Aladdin.^[17] Soon shows requiring far more children, and several casts of children began to be commonplace at TAS. Shows such as Wizard of Oz, Oliver, Seussical, The Music Man,^[18] and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat^[19] became popular starting in the 2004-2005 season and onward into 2007.

[edit] Beyond the Stage

The Artists' Studio is especially unique in that it acts as much more than just a performing theatre. It also offers a wide variety of classes in dancing, acting and singing. It also hosts other unique services, such as hosting themed children's birthday parties. The extra services are likely more a reflection on the fact that, unlike most community theatres in Indiana, The Artists' Studio is a for-profit organization. This has kept the Encore Association, which provides an award ceremony for community theatres in Indiana, from recognizing any of The Artists' Studios productions, as one of the stipulations is that no one be paid in a nominated production; it must be produced by a not-for-profit theatre group.^[20]