The collaboration with Jumping Jack Theatre gives students the experience of working with a professional company to develop a production.
- First-year student Gabriel Sellers works on the 'Starshine' set.
- Sophomore Nick Sheriff works on the 'Starshine' set.
A team of students in Cal U’s theatre program has turned a $7,500 grant from Cal U’s Faculty Professional Development Center into a mobile production that is just about ready to hit the road.
“Starshine,” a collaboration between Cal U and Jumping Jack Theatre, in Pittsburgh, is scheduled to debut May 15-16 at the Andy Warhol Museum, on the city’s North Shore. Other venues include the Carnegie Science Center on Jun 27, Aug. 15 and Nov. 9, and the Erie Playhouse June 19-20.
Jumping Jack Theatre is a children’s theatre production company that creates original works for audiences that would benefit from sensory and autism-friendly strategies.
The show is built in a trailer that will appear at various museums, festivals and other venues, explained assistant theatre professor Sabrina Hykes-Davis.
“The show is experiential, audience paced, and meant for one actor to work with one audience member per show,” she explained, meaning families could book it for their own back yards.
“The partnership with Jumping Jack has given our students the opportunity to work with a professional theatre company on all aspects of a theatre production, including set design,” Hykes-Davis said. “The Jumping Jack team worked with our students to create the experience and the individual props, as well as influence the overall design.”
For more information about the show, visit https://www.jumpingjacktheater.org/