Youth Theater Ensemble
This year, the NECS Youth Ensemble offers an exciting opportunity for participants, ages 10-18, to develop essential life skills through the transformative power of theater. In a fun, supportive, and creative environment, students will learn cooperation, self-advocacy, teamwork, and creative expression while building confidence both on and off the stage. Performances will take place in March, offering a memorable experience for both cast and audience.
Musicals under consideration include “A Bad Case of Stripes: The Musical”, a whimsical tale about embracing individuality, or “Last Stop on Market Street”, an inspiring story of community and empathy.
- Appropriate for: 5th to 12th Grade
- Dates: Saturdays - 20 sessions (October 5 - March)
Instructors
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Leslie Fields-CruzArtistic DirectorLeslie Fields-Cruz is the Executive Director of the Black Public Media (BPM), and produces the PBS series AfroPOP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange.
Searching for an opportunity to share her love of theater with her children, Leslie Fields-Cruz joined the staff of Peekskill’s Children’s theatre company in 2009 with her own kids in tow. Since then, every fall season Leslie eagerly looks forward to creating the magic that is theater with the CTC community. Leslie served as the Artistic Director of City Lights Youth Theater in NYC from 1998-2000, and spent several years prior to that as an actor performing on stages in New York and Los Angeles.When she is not playmaking at CTC, Leslie spends her time funding and distributing documentary films that explore the cultures of African Americans and people of the African Diaspora. Leslie lives in Cortlandt Manor with her musician husband Gerry Cruz, and their three daughters, Maya, Sumara, and Cierra.
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Matthew BensonServicial, dynamic, dependable. Matthew Benson is a New Yorker who has engaged his time to serve others. He started his studies in Dobbs Ferry and later in the city of Peekskill, where he is currently living and offering his work to the community. He is part of the NECS team as a coach in the theater program and for the empowerED boys club.
