Back Stage Education Program Featured on WBZ/CBS Boston

Watch the full story on WBZ/CBS Boston HERE

BOSTON – Boston’s Lyric Stage Company has a new program designed to show local students what it takes to make theater happen.

Lyric Backstage brings classes to the Back Bay Theater, where they hear from members of a design team and then see a one-act play commissioned just for them.

The students learn about props, sound and set design, jobs that are just as important to the theater as the actors on stage.

Match Charter Public High School recently brought the entire ninth grade class on a field trip the theater.

Drama teacher Annie Smith told WBZ-TV her students were really excited about the program, saying “this has been a wonderful opportunity for our children to get a better understanding about the technical elements of theater.”

Beacon Communities helped fund the Lyric Backstage program and Howard Cohen, the chairman of the board, said teaching students about theater careers can make a world of difference.

“You’ve got to get exposed to it, you’ve got to learn that it’s something for you, that you can appreciate it. Otherwise it seems distant, it seems for the other, rather than for you,” Cohen said.

Lyric community programs manager Alexandra Smith, who also directed the one-act play, said that’s the goal.

“When they start realizing just how many people it takes to put on a production, the hope is that they’re going to start seeing a place for themselves,” Smith said.

Organizers hope to expand the program to other communities and theaters across the state to give students more exposure to theater careers.