“Not only has being a Hurrah Player developed my stage presence and honed my musical theater skills, it has enabled me to improve my self-confidence, taught me to be disciplined, and has provided me the opportunity to acquire time management skills that have carried over into other aspects of my life.”


Samantha Hardee

The Boehmcke Family

Our daughter, Megan, has been a Hurrah player since she was 7. During the past 4 years, we’ve watched her grow more confident at school and at home. She readily approaches adults and other children and engages them without the shyness many other children exhibit. In addition, because she spends so much time at classes and rehearsal, she has developed strong study skills that have helped her maintain straight A’s at school. She has an appreciation for the gifts and talents of others and loves to watch her friends succeed. She knows how to work as part of a team towards a larger goal and she has learned the value of hard work. Regardless of whether musical theatre is a part of her adult life, we know that she will be successful in whatever she chooses to do because of the skills she is learning now.

Beth Boehmcke

Hurrah for the neighborhood!!

My name is Libby Morrison, and I am Past President of the Level Green Civic League of Virginia Beach. For the fifth year in a row, we will be having a neighborhood Family Day in the Park for the residents of Level Green in August. (We got rained out last year.) This is a time for neighbors to meet neighbors and have some fun. We have a clown, face painting, popcorn and entertainment. We also have participation by divisions of the city such as fire, mounted patrol, SWAT, fire clown, etc.

The Hurrah Players have been with us all the way. It is always so much fun to watch these children perform, especially the very young ones. The Hurrah Players are the most popular group of the day. Co Harrison has never turned us down. They inspire the children in the audience, and at the end of the day, we let our neighborhood children take over the stage to perform as they wish.

Sincerely,

Libby Morrison

Membership Chairman

Level Green Civic League

Celebrate with Hurrah!!

It seems this year has been flying in one big blur! We have finally made "the move". Hurrah has a final home! Hoorah!!!! I cannot think of anyone more deserving than the leader of our pack...Hugh Copeland! Our new home is located at 420 Bank Street, Norfol and is sooo beautiful. Two rehearsal halls, a student resource room, big offices and even a home for the copier!! But best of all.....our new spankin new theatre....the Perry Family Theatre!!! With big thank yous to the Perry Family, this new theatre is perfect! Real seats, a great sound system ( including monitors) house curtains, a stage, lighting ( not just a spot) and overhead mics!! I have never felt so much excitement. We have had lots of firsts.....pictures of the very first class held ( one day after move in...which was pretty miraculous...thanks to ALL the volunteers that moved us in on Sunday, Jan. 26) the first Spring Break Campers got to use the new theatre! And now....we debut our new theatre with the show "13" the musical. We are the first in this region to do this show! We have so many new and exciting avenues to explore now, but we still need all the "support" we can get! New sponsors, donations ( no donation is too big or small) they are all needed to keep this beautiful place going! We are all lucky to be where we are and the kids are so blessed to have this incredible studio to train in! Thank you to all that help daily...if you haven't seen us.....come on over and see the building. Pass the word and join the fun!
The Hurrah Players really do MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE!!!!

Lisa Wallace

A new view.

My internship with the hurrah Players really started about 15 years ago when I started taking my first classes here. I was only six years old when I started taking Musical Theatre and it was shortly after starting classes that I was cast in my first production "Cinderella". After those first few classes and that first production, I was hooked on Hurrah and could never seem to get enough! I continued taking classes and auditioned for just about every show. Once I reached Middle School, I knew that I had the acting bug and so i began doing Theatre with my school as well so that there would never be a moment in my life when I didn't have some sort of rehearsal to attend. I slowly started moving towards working strictly with school productions and began auditioning for the Governor's School for the Arts. as i moved into high school, I began to think about where I wanted to go in my life and what my ideal profession would be.

When I graduated high school, I had already been accepted into Virginia Wesleyan College and began taking classes. I still was not sure at this point what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew that I still loved theatre and I wished there was some way for me to stay connected to the theatre, but in a way that allowed me to see it from a different point of view. I decided then that I would become a business major while working on a theatre minor so that I could stay within the theatre world even through college. It wasn't until I was a junior in college that I decided to try to find a way to make business and theatre work together. I knew this wasn't a revolutionary idea in the eyes of other theatre professionals, but it was certainly something new for all of my business teachers to work with.

As I approached my senior year of college, I began considering the possibility of doing an internship as my final semester instead of taking any classes. I weighed the options of sitting in class and taking more notes, or going out into the world and gaining real life experiences in a field that I was interested in. I decided that the real life experience would be the better option!

And so my search began to find a business that would take me as their intern, and The Hurrah Players came to my mind. I wasn't sure if they had ever had an intern or if they would be able to have an intern, but I still gave it a try and here I am! I called Hurrah and spoke to Katie and after having a meeting with her, decided that this would be a great way to see how theatre works as a business.

Being an intern at Hurrah really means a lot to me and my education because I get the opportunity to learn about how theare is brought to the people and everything it takes to keep Hurrah going. Hurrah works just like any other business in many ways, but it also has some unique qualities that give me good exposure to things they haven't taught in classes. these differences will help me be more prepared for the future and teach me things about theatre beyond the performance. I plan to use this experience to guide me towards a future career path that will feed my hunger for theatre and prepare me for the business world.

Shannon Agostino
Hurrah Players Intern

Hurrah's new home!

If you haven't already heard, Hurrah has a new home! We are all very excited and know that Hugh and all his hard work is so very deserving! It has taken alot of hard work from our building "angels" to make this happen. We will be starting our Winter classes there January 25th. The building is not open as yet to visitors as we will be moving in during the next two weeks or so. We look forward to seeing you all then and know you will love our new home too! The new address is 420 Bank Street, located next door to Chrysler Hall.

If you want more information on classes etc, please visit our website at www.hurrahplayers.com. Blogs will resume in our new location.

Lisa

A parent's perspective

I just wanted to say a few things about the Production Class and how it has truly affected my son, Lane.

It was a hugh deal for my shy son to take the big step of taking Ms Aly's One Act class last session. He wanted to allow himself to be part of Hurrah ( after watching his sister, Marissa, have so much fun with it), but there was that part of him that would hold himself back. I gave him a little incentive and he ran with it. The first day after that class, he walked out with a big smile and thanked me and told me that he loved the class. Since that time, Lane has continued to change thanks to the magic of Hurrah. That first class with Ms Aly and now the class he is taking with Sharon Cook has given him a new perspective of the world and more insight into himself. He is now (although slowly) allowing himself to open up his real self, and as a parent, it has been a very moving experience.

Lane even decided to audition for HIVA this year, which floored us. It took him a long time to decide, but about a week before auditions, he grabbed a song and said he could do it, then practiced his heart out. I'm sure the audition was altogether frightening for him, but that night when I tucked him in, he told me he did a good job and he was proud of himself. And that meant more than anything to me.

Thanks for all you do for so many children.

Gina Dobson