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HILLSBOROUGH: YMCA turns to playhouse to host kids’ acting classes

   Local teens with a dramatic flair will be able to develop their acting crafts with a new workshop planned by the Hillsborough Family YMCA and the Somerset Valley Players.
   According to the YMCA Executive Director Valerie Giacopelli, the idea for a class sprang from the Y’s desire to present classes local schools aren’t.
   ”The classes were Jim (Vaccarella), Barbara (Petrillo), and my idea to help expand our service in the area of the arts in an economic environment where schools are finding I difficult to maintain these classes,” Ms. Giacopelli said. Mr. Vaccarella is the youth and family director for the YMCA; Ms. Petrillo is the senior director of children’s services.
   According to YMCA Public Relations Director Donna Dass, Ms. Giacopelli had been looking for such an opportunity for a while.
   ”She had been thinking for quite a while about reaching out to the Somerset Valley Playhouse to see if they would be interested in collaborating,” Ms. Dass said. “She and I met with some of SVP board members and we discussed how we could best serve the youth and teens of Hillsborough, fill a community need and provide affordable acting classes.”
   The 10-week class will begin Sept. 13 at the Somerset Valley Playhouse on Amwell Road, and will be taught by actress Sora Baek, currently appearing in New York City’s Shakespeare in the Park productions of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Among her film credits are appearances in “Girl, Interrupted,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” and “Henry Poole is Here.” She was named best actress at the 2008 Epidemic Film Festival, sponsored by the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and also at the Chungbuk (Korea) College Theatre Festival.
   Ms. Baek also worked with an award-winning production in Korea. She studied at Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater, SITI Company and trained at Summer Training Congress at the American Conservatory Theater. She received her MFA in acting at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where she studied with actress Diane Baker.
   The classes will use various theater techniques and games to “build the senses, engage teamwork and strengthen skills for the stage that will ultimately open the theater experience for all participants,” Ms. Dass said. Students will also learn about story creation and improvisation, and older students will explore scenes and monologues.
   Two 12-student sessions are currently planned for Mondays, a 30-minute session from 4:30 p.m. — 5 p.m. for students ages 8 – 12, and hour-long sessions at 5:15 p.m. for teenage students. The fee for the sessions will $63 for full and program members, $100 for non-members, for the half-hour classes; $126 for hour-long sessions ($200 for non-members).
   Although the classes will be limited to 12 students, Ms. Dass noted, “If we find there is a need, we would expand the days and times accordingly. We’ll have to see what the interest level will b.”
   Registration is underway at the YMCA for the acting classes — for more information, check the website at www.ymcasomersetvalley.org.