PCYT presents Kiss Me, Kate

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From left, Rodner Salgado, Luis Lage, Alex Guzman and Marty Gallinari.

This fall, the Patel Conservatory Youth Theater (PCYT) presents Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate.
Kiss Me, Kate is a classical musical that exemplifies the American art form at its finest.
“This show is an indication of the advancement in the quality of our musical theater program,” said Ami Sallee, Patel Conservatory theater chair.
The show marks the first full-length production of a traditional musical at the Conservatory since the restructuring its theater department in July, 2011.
“Taking on a classical musical exposes the students to more challenging material, which helps them grow and develop as artists,” said Sallee.
Kiss Me, Kate is a timeless musical combining Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew with Cole Porter’s music and lyrics. The Tony ® Award-winning show is a play-within-a-play, where each cast member’s in-stage life is complicated by offstage events. Popular musical numbers include “Wunderbar,” “Too Darn Hot,” “Brush up Your Shakespeare,” “I Hate Men,” “Always True to You (In My Fashion)” and “Another Op’nin, Another Show.
The cast, primarily college and high school students, have been putting in 17 hours a week in preparation for the show.

Mario Gallinari, Lucas Coura, Johnny
Garde

“The students are getting so much more than performance experience,” said Conservatory instructor Adam Wagner, director of the show.
Training for the show includes the study of Shakespeare and the music and history of Porter, so cast members come away with deeper knowledge of the material, solid training as actors and performers, and even audition material for their repertoire.
The cast includes students and faculty from our dance, music and theater programs.
“The cross pollination of having a music program, dance program and theater program under one roof is incredibly important,” said Wagner. “Someone in musical theater needs to know how to act, dance and sing.”
The show is choreographed by dance instructor Susan Downey, with music direction by Dee Lynch and a live pit orchestra made up of advanced music students.
Kiss Me, Kate will run Nov. 8-10 and 15-17 at the Straz Center’s TECO Theater. For tickets, click here, or call 813-229-7827.

Spotlight on Kristen Walker

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Kristen Walker was heartbroken when she found out her school’s musical fell on the same date as an important family reunion.

As it turned out, her schedule conflict led to a new opportunity. Kristen landed the role of Lilli/Kate in PCYT’s upcoming production of Kiss Me, Kate.
“It was a by-chance kind of thing,” explained Kristen, a sophomore at the University of Tampa.
Disappointed she couldn’t participate in UT’s fall show, she emailed her theater chair, who suggested she audition for Kiss Me, Kate at the Patel Conservatory.
She had only a day to prepare for the audition, so when she found out that she was cast as Lilli, “I was shocked and amazed. I felt really blessed,” she said.
While circumstances brought her to the audition, it was her talent that landed her the role.
Kristen comes from a musical background, her father being a jazz musician and director of a jazz orchestra, and her mother a jazz singer. Both are music leaders at their synagogue in Niceville, Fla., where Kristen grew up.
“Their lives have always been focused on music,” said Kristen.
Her mother, Gina, grew up in Tampa, and, coincidentally, was a drama student of Wendy Leigh’s when Leigh taught at Chamberlain High School. (Leigh is now the vice-president of education at the Patel Conservatory.)
“I have been singing my entire life,” said Kristen. “My parents got me into music at a young age.”
Kristen played the violin for about seven years, and became interested in theater while attending Niceville High School. “I started doing shows, and started thinking maybe I could do it for a living.”
Kiss Me, Kate, is her first experience with the Patel Conservatory. She enjoys the classical music and the farcical story. “The whole show is one big comedy of errors.”
The show may be comical, yet the atmosphere of rehearsals is exceptionally professional and rewarding, she said.
“I’m getting so much out of this show and this program...It’s so professional, which I appreciate as someone who’s trying to get into the business.”

Kiss Me, Kate will run Nov. 8-10 and 15-17 at the Straz Center’s TECO Theater. For tickets, click here, or call 813-229-7827.

Music and magic draw this artist from her shell

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There’s a feeling that lives within our walls. It’s intangible, but very real for the performers and artists - the singers, actors, dancers, musicians - who spend time here at the Patel Conservatory.

Melissa Stewart-Hoffman describes it as magic.
“In life, I’m shy, but when I walk through the music note doors, and up to the third floor studio, I feel like myself,” said Melissa, a voice student at the Conservatory. “I guess singing, it just does something, it’s a certain magic."
A 16-year-old from Mulberry, Fla., Melissa first felt that magic when she was 12 years old and saw La Bohème at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
“It was like a lightbulb going off in my head. I’ve always loved singing, but that’s when I knew I wanted to be an opera singer,” said Melissa.
After a few years of taking local voice lessons, she decided to try the Patel Conservatory in the summer of 2011 with our Vocal Arts Academy.
“When I started at the Conservatory, I think that’s when I felt at home...It was an amazing discovery,” said Melissa.
That fall, she began private voice lessons with instructor and Patel Conservatory music chair, Gregory Ruffer. She auditioned for Opera Tampa Chorus and had the opportunity to perform with them throughout the season.
The experience of performing with the opera company affirmed her love of the art and desire to pursue a classical singing career.
“The last performance I did (with Opera Tampa) was Aida, and I think that was my favorite...it felt easier and reassured me even more,” she said.
This past summer, in addition to attending our Classical Voice Intensive, she earned the honor of attending the prestigious summer program at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio.
She attributes her success to the training she received at the Conservatory.
“(Ruffer) is the best teacher. His experience and his honesty with me in how I need to improve, and just the environment,” helped her grow as an artist, she said.
She loves performing opera because she enjoys singing in different languages and learning about the various operas and their histories. Becoming a different character draws her out of her shell, she said.
“The music transports me to a different era,” said Melissa. "I sing not only to express myself and to be happy, but so other people will enjoy it."
A junior at Polk State Collegiate High School in Lakeland where she’s earning college credit for classes, she takes private voice lessons weekly with Ruffer in preparation for college auditions and hopes to attend Oberlin.
“I’m really thankful for the Conservatory,” said Melissa. “I feel truly like it is my second home.”

Student from Italy learns more than Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream

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The cast of PCYT's A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing tomorrow at
the Patel Conservatory's TECO Theater.

Wrestling with the old English of a Shakespeare play is difficult for anyone. For Italian actor Lorenzo Tonelli, understanding the story was only half the problem.Lorenzo plays the fun-loving Puck in tomorrow’s PCYT production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Patel Conservatory.The 13-year-old from Bologna, Italy, speaks moderate English. So understanding the director and his fellow classmates for the past two weeks was as challenging as understanding the text.“This is the first time I’ve done Shakespeare. I have some problems what I’m reading, but my father and the director help me to translate,” said Lorenzo.The show will be the culmination of PCYT’s theater intensive program, during which students have learned vocal and acting techniques as well as an understanding of classic Shakespeare.

Lorenzo Tonelli, middle, joined us from Italy
to study theater this summer. Aaron Phillips,
left, plays Oberon, and Sasha Hollenbeck
plays Helena.

Lorenzo attends a performing arts school in Italy, where he has performed in many musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar. He sings, acts and plays piano, and recently had a role in a television movie to be broadcast in Italy.His father Marco Tonelli works for an American company based out of Lakeland that manufactures commercial juice extractors for orange juice companies. He travels from Bologna to Lakeland about every other month.Last summer, Lorenzo joined him in Lakeland and attended YMCA summer camps. This summer, in searching for some performing arts camps, a co-worker referred Marco to the Patel Conservatory.“I visited in March, and found it extremely exciting,” said Marco. He says in Italy, when people think about the performing arts in America, they imagine the excitement of Broadway.Marco finds the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center, “exactly matching with this ideal we have,” he explained.Staying at the Howard Johnson’s across the street, Lorenzo goes to classes at the Conservatory while Marco goes to work in Lakeland.“I tried all that Patel Conservatory has to offer,” said Lorenzo, who also took voice and piano lessons at the Conservatory during his stay in Tampa. “It has been a good experience...it’s fun.”Lorenzo says his instructor and Midsummer director Giles Davies has helped him learn more about character.“I feel my character inside of me,” said Lorenzo. “I am not so much of a jokester as Puck, but I love it because he’s my favorite character.”As director, Davies has a keen instinct. “He finds the right movements in the right place... he can do that...few people can.”


See Tonelli and all the talented cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream tomorrow night, Fri., July 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. For tickets or more information, click here.

Student from Italy learns more than Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream

To contact us Click HERE

The cast of PCYT's A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing tomorrow at
the Patel Conservatory's TECO Theater.

Wrestling with the old English of a Shakespeare play is difficult for anyone. For Italian actor Lorenzo Tonelli, understanding the story was only half the problem.Lorenzo plays the fun-loving Puck in tomorrow’s PCYT production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Patel Conservatory.The 13-year-old from Bologna, Italy, speaks moderate English. So understanding the director and his fellow classmates for the past two weeks was as challenging as understanding the text.“This is the first time I’ve done Shakespeare. I have some problems what I’m reading, but my father and the director help me to translate,” said Lorenzo.The show will be the culmination of PCYT’s theater intensive program, during which students have learned vocal and acting techniques as well as an understanding of classic Shakespeare.

Lorenzo Tonelli, middle, joined us from Italy
to study theater this summer. Aaron Phillips,
left, plays Oberon, and Sasha Hollenbeck
plays Helena.

Lorenzo attends a performing arts school in Italy, where he has performed in many musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar. He sings, acts and plays piano, and recently had a role in a television movie to be broadcast in Italy.His father Marco Tonelli works for an American company based out of Lakeland that manufactures commercial juice extractors for orange juice companies. He travels from Bologna to Lakeland about every other month.Last summer, Lorenzo joined him in Lakeland and attended YMCA summer camps. This summer, in searching for some performing arts camps, a co-worker referred Marco to the Patel Conservatory.“I visited in March, and found it extremely exciting,” said Marco. He says in Italy, when people think about the performing arts in America, they imagine the excitement of Broadway.Marco finds the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center, “exactly matching with this ideal we have,” he explained.Staying at the Howard Johnson’s across the street, Lorenzo goes to classes at the Conservatory while Marco goes to work in Lakeland.“I tried all that Patel Conservatory has to offer,” said Lorenzo, who also took voice and piano lessons at the Conservatory during his stay in Tampa. “It has been a good experience...it’s fun.”Lorenzo says his instructor and Midsummer director Giles Davies has helped him learn more about character.“I feel my character inside of me,” said Lorenzo. “I am not so much of a jokester as Puck, but I love it because he’s my favorite character.”As director, Davies has a keen instinct. “He finds the right movements in the right place... he can do that...few people can.”


See Tonelli and all the talented cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream tomorrow night, Fri., July 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. For tickets or more information, click here.

Student from Italy learns more than Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream

To contact us Click HERE

The cast of PCYT's A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing tomorrow at
the Patel Conservatory's TECO Theater.

Wrestling with the old English of a Shakespeare play is difficult for anyone. For Italian actor Lorenzo Tonelli, understanding the story was only half the problem.Lorenzo plays the fun-loving Puck in tomorrow’s PCYT production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Patel Conservatory.The 13-year-old from Bologna, Italy, speaks moderate English. So understanding the director and his fellow classmates for the past two weeks was as challenging as understanding the text.“This is the first time I’ve done Shakespeare. I have some problems what I’m reading, but my father and the director help me to translate,” said Lorenzo.The show will be the culmination of PCYT’s theater intensive program, during which students have learned vocal and acting techniques as well as an understanding of classic Shakespeare.

Lorenzo Tonelli, middle, joined us from Italy
to study theater this summer. Aaron Phillips,
left, plays Oberon, and Sasha Hollenbeck
plays Helena.

Lorenzo attends a performing arts school in Italy, where he has performed in many musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar. He sings, acts and plays piano, and recently had a role in a television movie to be broadcast in Italy.His father Marco Tonelli works for an American company based out of Lakeland that manufactures commercial juice extractors for orange juice companies. He travels from Bologna to Lakeland about every other month.Last summer, Lorenzo joined him in Lakeland and attended YMCA summer camps. This summer, in searching for some performing arts camps, a co-worker referred Marco to the Patel Conservatory.“I visited in March, and found it extremely exciting,” said Marco. He says in Italy, when people think about the performing arts in America, they imagine the excitement of Broadway.Marco finds the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center, “exactly matching with this ideal we have,” he explained.Staying at the Howard Johnson’s across the street, Lorenzo goes to classes at the Conservatory while Marco goes to work in Lakeland.“I tried all that Patel Conservatory has to offer,” said Lorenzo, who also took voice and piano lessons at the Conservatory during his stay in Tampa. “It has been a good experience...it’s fun.”Lorenzo says his instructor and Midsummer director Giles Davies has helped him learn more about character.“I feel my character inside of me,” said Lorenzo. “I am not so much of a jokester as Puck, but I love it because he’s my favorite character.”As director, Davies has a keen instinct. “He finds the right movements in the right place... he can do that...few people can.”


See Tonelli and all the talented cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream tomorrow night, Fri., July 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. For tickets or more information, click here.

Student from Italy learns more than Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream

To contact us Click HERE

The cast of PCYT's A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing tomorrow at
the Patel Conservatory's TECO Theater.

Wrestling with the old English of a Shakespeare play is difficult for anyone. For Italian actor Lorenzo Tonelli, understanding the story was only half the problem.Lorenzo plays the fun-loving Puck in tomorrow’s PCYT production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Patel Conservatory.The 13-year-old from Bologna, Italy, speaks moderate English. So understanding the director and his fellow classmates for the past two weeks was as challenging as understanding the text.“This is the first time I’ve done Shakespeare. I have some problems what I’m reading, but my father and the director help me to translate,” said Lorenzo.The show will be the culmination of PCYT’s theater intensive program, during which students have learned vocal and acting techniques as well as an understanding of classic Shakespeare.

Lorenzo Tonelli, middle, joined us from Italy
to study theater this summer. Aaron Phillips,
left, plays Oberon, and Sasha Hollenbeck
plays Helena.

Lorenzo attends a performing arts school in Italy, where he has performed in many musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar. He sings, acts and plays piano, and recently had a role in a television movie to be broadcast in Italy.His father Marco Tonelli works for an American company based out of Lakeland that manufactures commercial juice extractors for orange juice companies. He travels from Bologna to Lakeland about every other month.Last summer, Lorenzo joined him in Lakeland and attended YMCA summer camps. This summer, in searching for some performing arts camps, a co-worker referred Marco to the Patel Conservatory.“I visited in March, and found it extremely exciting,” said Marco. He says in Italy, when people think about the performing arts in America, they imagine the excitement of Broadway.Marco finds the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center, “exactly matching with this ideal we have,” he explained.Staying at the Howard Johnson’s across the street, Lorenzo goes to classes at the Conservatory while Marco goes to work in Lakeland.“I tried all that Patel Conservatory has to offer,” said Lorenzo, who also took voice and piano lessons at the Conservatory during his stay in Tampa. “It has been a good experience...it’s fun.”Lorenzo says his instructor and Midsummer director Giles Davies has helped him learn more about character.“I feel my character inside of me,” said Lorenzo. “I am not so much of a jokester as Puck, but I love it because he’s my favorite character.”As director, Davies has a keen instinct. “He finds the right movements in the right place... he can do that...few people can.”


See Tonelli and all the talented cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream tomorrow night, Fri., July 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. For tickets or more information, click here.

Student from Italy learns more than Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream

To contact us Click HERE

The cast of PCYT's A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing tomorrow at
the Patel Conservatory's TECO Theater.

Wrestling with the old English of a Shakespeare play is difficult for anyone. For Italian actor Lorenzo Tonelli, understanding the story was only half the problem.Lorenzo plays the fun-loving Puck in tomorrow’s PCYT production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Patel Conservatory.The 13-year-old from Bologna, Italy, speaks moderate English. So understanding the director and his fellow classmates for the past two weeks was as challenging as understanding the text.“This is the first time I’ve done Shakespeare. I have some problems what I’m reading, but my father and the director help me to translate,” said Lorenzo.The show will be the culmination of PCYT’s theater intensive program, during which students have learned vocal and acting techniques as well as an understanding of classic Shakespeare.

Lorenzo Tonelli, middle, joined us from Italy
to study theater this summer. Aaron Phillips,
left, plays Oberon, and Sasha Hollenbeck
plays Helena.

Lorenzo attends a performing arts school in Italy, where he has performed in many musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar. He sings, acts and plays piano, and recently had a role in a television movie to be broadcast in Italy.His father Marco Tonelli works for an American company based out of Lakeland that manufactures commercial juice extractors for orange juice companies. He travels from Bologna to Lakeland about every other month.Last summer, Lorenzo joined him in Lakeland and attended YMCA summer camps. This summer, in searching for some performing arts camps, a co-worker referred Marco to the Patel Conservatory.“I visited in March, and found it extremely exciting,” said Marco. He says in Italy, when people think about the performing arts in America, they imagine the excitement of Broadway.Marco finds the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center, “exactly matching with this ideal we have,” he explained.Staying at the Howard Johnson’s across the street, Lorenzo goes to classes at the Conservatory while Marco goes to work in Lakeland.“I tried all that Patel Conservatory has to offer,” said Lorenzo, who also took voice and piano lessons at the Conservatory during his stay in Tampa. “It has been a good experience...it’s fun.”Lorenzo says his instructor and Midsummer director Giles Davies has helped him learn more about character.“I feel my character inside of me,” said Lorenzo. “I am not so much of a jokester as Puck, but I love it because he’s my favorite character.”As director, Davies has a keen instinct. “He finds the right movements in the right place... he can do that...few people can.”


See Tonelli and all the talented cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream tomorrow night, Fri., July 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. For tickets or more information, click here.

Student from Italy learns more than Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream

To contact us Click HERE

The cast of PCYT's A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing tomorrow at
the Patel Conservatory's TECO Theater.

Wrestling with the old English of a Shakespeare play is difficult for anyone. For Italian actor Lorenzo Tonelli, understanding the story was only half the problem.Lorenzo plays the fun-loving Puck in tomorrow’s PCYT production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Patel Conservatory.The 13-year-old from Bologna, Italy, speaks moderate English. So understanding the director and his fellow classmates for the past two weeks was as challenging as understanding the text.“This is the first time I’ve done Shakespeare. I have some problems what I’m reading, but my father and the director help me to translate,” said Lorenzo.The show will be the culmination of PCYT’s theater intensive program, during which students have learned vocal and acting techniques as well as an understanding of classic Shakespeare.

Lorenzo Tonelli, middle, joined us from Italy
to study theater this summer. Aaron Phillips,
left, plays Oberon, and Sasha Hollenbeck
plays Helena.

Lorenzo attends a performing arts school in Italy, where he has performed in many musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar. He sings, acts and plays piano, and recently had a role in a television movie to be broadcast in Italy.His father Marco Tonelli works for an American company based out of Lakeland that manufactures commercial juice extractors for orange juice companies. He travels from Bologna to Lakeland about every other month.Last summer, Lorenzo joined him in Lakeland and attended YMCA summer camps. This summer, in searching for some performing arts camps, a co-worker referred Marco to the Patel Conservatory.“I visited in March, and found it extremely exciting,” said Marco. He says in Italy, when people think about the performing arts in America, they imagine the excitement of Broadway.Marco finds the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center, “exactly matching with this ideal we have,” he explained.Staying at the Howard Johnson’s across the street, Lorenzo goes to classes at the Conservatory while Marco goes to work in Lakeland.“I tried all that Patel Conservatory has to offer,” said Lorenzo, who also took voice and piano lessons at the Conservatory during his stay in Tampa. “It has been a good experience...it’s fun.”Lorenzo says his instructor and Midsummer director Giles Davies has helped him learn more about character.“I feel my character inside of me,” said Lorenzo. “I am not so much of a jokester as Puck, but I love it because he’s my favorite character.”As director, Davies has a keen instinct. “He finds the right movements in the right place... he can do that...few people can.”


See Tonelli and all the talented cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream tomorrow night, Fri., July 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. For tickets or more information, click here.

Be prepared with upcoming audition workshops

To contact us Click HERE
Do you get nervous at the very thought of an audition?

Take the fear out of the auditioning process with our upcoming workshop series.
The Patel Conservatory in Tampa is hosting a series of audition workshops for grades 5 to 8, and grade 9 through adult, designed to help actors develop the skills to present a successful and professional audition.
We got feedback from artistic directors in the Tampa Bay area and around Florida, and they said that three things are consistently lacking in auditions.
“We have devoted our workshops to those three points,” said Ami Sallee, theater department chair. “Actors need to be prepared before they walk into an audition, they must know their monologue backwards and forwards and they should know the basics of passing a music and dance audition.”
The audition series features three different workshops covering different topics. Take one, or take all three! The choice is yours.
This workshop series is perfect for students who are interested in auditioning for one of our Patel Conservatory Youth Theater spring musicals.
Audition workshop seriesFridays from 5 to 8 p.m.Nov. 30 - Dec. 14, 2012
Friday, Nov. 30, 2012Part I: Professionalism and Confidence: Resume composition, headshot guidelines, how-to slate, proper audition attire, audition etiquette and seeking out auditions.
Dec. 7, 2012Part II: Monologues and Cold Readings: Monologue package selection, transitions, how-to do a cold reading, in-the-audition-room tips and tools for post-show interviews and callbacks.
Dec. 14, 2012Part III: Audition Songs and Dance Combinations: Picking an audition song that suits your voice, learning choreography, assembling an audition book and mock audition.
The cost per workshop is $50 each. Or, purchase the three-week workshop package for only $135.
All participants who purchase the three-week workshop package will also receive a voucher good for one 30-minute private acting lesson! (Private lessons must be individually scheduled through the registrar’s office.)
To register, click here, or call 813-222-1002.
For more audition tips, click here.

Student from Italy learns more than Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream

To contact us Click HERE

The cast of PCYT's A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing tomorrow at
the Patel Conservatory's TECO Theater.

Wrestling with the old English of a Shakespeare play is difficult for anyone. For Italian actor Lorenzo Tonelli, understanding the story was only half the problem.Lorenzo plays the fun-loving Puck in tomorrow’s PCYT production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Patel Conservatory.The 13-year-old from Bologna, Italy, speaks moderate English. So understanding the director and his fellow classmates for the past two weeks was as challenging as understanding the text.“This is the first time I’ve done Shakespeare. I have some problems what I’m reading, but my father and the director help me to translate,” said Lorenzo.The show will be the culmination of PCYT’s theater intensive program, during which students have learned vocal and acting techniques as well as an understanding of classic Shakespeare.

Lorenzo Tonelli, middle, joined us from Italy
to study theater this summer. Aaron Phillips,
left, plays Oberon, and Sasha Hollenbeck
plays Helena.

Lorenzo attends a performing arts school in Italy, where he has performed in many musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar. He sings, acts and plays piano, and recently had a role in a television movie to be broadcast in Italy.His father Marco Tonelli works for an American company based out of Lakeland that manufactures commercial juice extractors for orange juice companies. He travels from Bologna to Lakeland about every other month.Last summer, Lorenzo joined him in Lakeland and attended YMCA summer camps. This summer, in searching for some performing arts camps, a co-worker referred Marco to the Patel Conservatory.“I visited in March, and found it extremely exciting,” said Marco. He says in Italy, when people think about the performing arts in America, they imagine the excitement of Broadway.Marco finds the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center, “exactly matching with this ideal we have,” he explained.Staying at the Howard Johnson’s across the street, Lorenzo goes to classes at the Conservatory while Marco goes to work in Lakeland.“I tried all that Patel Conservatory has to offer,” said Lorenzo, who also took voice and piano lessons at the Conservatory during his stay in Tampa. “It has been a good experience...it’s fun.”Lorenzo says his instructor and Midsummer director Giles Davies has helped him learn more about character.“I feel my character inside of me,” said Lorenzo. “I am not so much of a jokester as Puck, but I love it because he’s my favorite character.”As director, Davies has a keen instinct. “He finds the right movements in the right place... he can do that...few people can.”


See Tonelli and all the talented cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream tomorrow night, Fri., July 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. For tickets or more information, click here.

Spotlight on Deborah Lynch

To contact us Click HERE
You may have seen her at the piano, accompanying our voice students, or musical theater students in a rehearsal or showcase.

As the staff accompanist at the Patel Conservatory, Deborah Lynch, or Dee, is always there, in the background, providing the music while the students shine.
But you may not know that, in addition to being our in-house accompanist, Dee does a whole lot more.
An avid singer, dancer and actor, Dee knew she wanted a career in the performing arts since she was 14 years old.
She attended a summer dance program in New York put on by Janis Menken, wife of the now infamous Disney composer Alan Menken.
“Alan was the accompanist for the ballet classes. I would leave dance classes and go find a piano and play the music I’d heard him play in class. Some of the pieces he wrote himself. I can still play them, I still remember them,” said Dee.
Inspired by Menken, “I thought, ‘I want to do that.’ I wanted to be in the performing arts, play piano, dance, act, teach.”
Dee went on to start the first Alan Menken fan club that year, and then accomplish all the other things she set out to do.
She studied theater, dance and voice at Stockton State College where she received her Bachelor of Arts, and was active in musical theater in Richmond, Va. for 25 years as a performer, music director and accompanist.
She joined the Patel Conservatory a little more than a year ago, and not only provides accompaniment wherever needed, but also teaches musical theater and Fundamentals of Music and is the co-director of the junior and senior choirs.
“It’s an advantage and a bit of a luxury to have a full-time accompanist on staff,” said Dee.
Many educational institutions have to contract accompanists externally, and then run into schedule conflicts and may struggle to find someone when needed, she said.
“At any given time, if there’s a need, I’m already here.”
Dee has been the music director for many of our youth theater productions, and is presently accompanying for Kiss Me, Kate.
She also helps oversee the vocal arts program and coordinates Rock School, guitar studies and the jazz quartet.
“The Rock School program is moving even further into the educational realm, promoting more music reading as well as performance,” said Dee.
Teaching the newly added Fundamentals of Music class, she’s been able to reach a wide range of current students who want a deeper understanding of music.
“If you only learn how to play a song or two, you’re limited in what you can do with that,” she said. “We want to make sure all our students have the opportunity to understand the process, as well as the enjoyment of the performance opportunity.”
Part of Dee’s job is to help students figure out which class is the best fit for them.
“We have group guitar lessons ranging from beginner to intermediate level, from young children to high school to adults,” said Dee. “If a student has some experience but doesn’t know where he belongs, he can come get a ‘pass to class’ and see if it’s the right fit.”
She notes that sometimes students opt to start with private lessons to help prepare for auditions for the coming season.
Over the summer, Dee was the music director for Avenue Q, performed by M.A.D. Theater at the Shimberg Playhouse.
Being in the music department at the Patel Conservatory has allowed her to fulfill her passion full-time.
“I look forward to coming to work every day. I love the students. I don’t have a word to explain how much I enjoy them,” she said. “It’s a really wonderful place to work.”

NGB's Summer Fantasy features talent from around the country

To contact us Click HERE
When Tanner Bleck was little, he wanted to be on Blues Clues.“I always wanted to be Steve from Blues Clues, it used to be my favorite show,” said Tanner.So when he was six years old, he asked for acting lessons for his birthday. From then on, he’s loved performing.Now an accomplished dancer, the 14-year old from Lexington, KY will perform this Friday along with nearly 150 advanced ballet students from around the globe in Next Generation Ballet’s Summer Fantasy.The show will be a culmination of NGB’s summer intensive and will include performances from professional guest artists including Jeffrey Cirio and Lia Cirio of the Boston Ballet, and Dylan G-Bowley of Ballet Memphis.When Tanner was seven years old, through his acting classes, he learned about the concept of the triple threat (an actor, singer and dancer), which piqued his interest in dance. A fan of the television show So You Think You Can Dance, he thought he'd take ballroom dance. But he couldn't find any local classes. He wasn’t immediately sold on the idea of ballet, but his mom told him that ballet was the basis for most other dance styles.
"She told me, 'if you can do that, you can do anything,'" he said.
So he decided to take the plunge and signed up for lessons at Bluegrass Youth Ballet.“Every since I took my first ballet class, I fell in love with it,” said Tanner, who went on to the School for the Creative and Performing Arts in Lexington, and continued lessons at Bluegrass Youth Ballet.
Now, instead of dreaming about being on TV, he dreams of becoming a professional dancer. Earlier this year, he took first place in the junior classical dance category at the Indianapolis regional Youth America Grand Prix competition.


"At competitions, I like that feeling of seeing other kids do really good, and I want to be as good as them."


He went on to the YAGP finals in New York in April and has since had invitations to study at some of the best ballet schools.He has chosen to join us this fall at the Patel Conservatory to train full-time in NGB’s pre-professional program.“I kept hearing everyone talk about how Peter [Stark] would be a good fit for me. I had this gut feeling to come here,” said Tanner. “Then I started working with Peter, and I knew this is the one [school] I wanted to go to...“He’s helped me so much with my technique, and helping me build strength.”In addition learning how to jump higher and land his double tours, Tanner’s also enjoyed getting to know dancers from around the country these past few weeks. And, he’s earned the privilege to perform a solo in this Friday’s show.“No one’s really asked me to do anything like that before, my own solo,” he said.He’s thrilled to be able “to dance with other amazing dancers from around the world.”Other guest performers include NGB alumni Drew Nelson and Skyler Martin. Nelson currently attends Royal Ballet School (RBS), and Martin is a recent graduate of the RBS (2012) and new company member with Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam.Check out Tanner and 150 other talented dancers this Friday at Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center in downtown Tampa for Summer Fantasy at 7 p.m.