theater camp Beverly MA

The Ten Commandments of Rising Stars Week!

/in , , , , /by

Summer is our favorite season here at Rising Stars – it means our camps and theater intensives are just around the corner! This year, we’re very excited to run THREE musical theater programs – the first, our Musical Theater Intensive for Homeschoolers, runs June 11-15 in Beverly, MA; the second, Rising Stars West, runs June 25-29 in Gardner, MA; and our traditional Rising Stars Camp runs July 23-27 in North Reading, MA.

(These programs all have different names but are essentially the same.  They just have different titles because of boring legal reasons that I won’t go into.  All you need to know is that, no matter which of our programs you are enrolled in this summer, your experience will be fun, awesome, educational, empowering, and probably – no, make that definitely – very sweaty.) Read more

why the arts matter

Why the Arts Matter

/in /by

It’s no secret that it’s hard being an artist.  What we do requires study, practice, discipline, self-sacrifice, emotional engagement – all things which are often absent from our instant-gratification-loving, technology-driven, modern, American culture.  In a time when our society seems to consume ever-increasing amounts of cheap, thoughtless entertainment, the fine arts and the artists who produce them are hardly ever given the respect or resources they deserve.  School districts all over the country have cut funding for their arts programs; local theaters, symphonies, and opera houses struggle to stay afloat; and many free-lancing professional artists face misunderstanding about or opposition to their requests to be compensated fairly for their work. Read more