Black Box Studios' 2009 Spring Theater Workshops

Professional Director/Writer Matt Okin (based in Englewood) and his long-time collaborator, Production Stage Manager Mandy Decker (based in Jersey City) are currently bringing innovative NY-style theater programs to various schools and institutions throughout Bergen County. In addition to teaching in-school courses in improvisation, musical theater, rock songwriting, and film at places like the Bergen County High School of Jewish Studies in both Hackensack and Woodcliff Lake, in the Performing Arts Department at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, and for the Apollo Theater’s In-School Seminars in the City, Matt has teamed up with Mandy to start The Jewish Center of Teaneck’s Professional Drama Workshop For Kids, Teens, and Adults, an intense twenty-session course for ages seven to adult. There remains limited space for some additional participants of any age, so please call now to enroll. Additionally, Matt and Mandy are quickly approaching their first production with the new Moriah School of Englewood Drama Program, a collaborative group which includes over thirty 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students with a serious interest in the theater arts, both on-stage and behind-the-scenes.

The Professional Drama Workshop For Kids, Teens, and Adults is a project of The Jewish Center of Teaneck, taking place at 70 Sterling Place just West of Teaneck Road, on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 PM until the end of May. To join the by the next session, on January 27, call (201) 567-6664 or email Matt. Participants experience the NY-style production of a classic play from start to finish, with the final product open the public for two performances. Workshop dates are 1-27, 2-03, 2-10, 2-17, 2-24, 3-03, 3-17, 3-24, 3-31, 4-21, 4-28, 5-5 & 5-12. Dress/Tech Rehearsals are 5-19, 5-20, 5-21 & 5-25, and Performances are on 5-26 & 5-27. This workshop is specially priced for these tough economic times: $275 plus $50 materials fee ($200 + materials fee for JCoT members). Some scholarship funds and work-study opportunities are available - please call to discuss.

Tickets for the Moriah Drama Program’s first production, an updated version of a 1938 Broadway play called NOAH, will go on sale starting Monday, January 26th. Performances at Moriah, 53 South Woodland Street in Englewood, are open to the public on Monday evening, February 9 and Wednesday evening, February 11 at 7:00 PM. Contact the school for further information at (201) 567-0208. In June, the Moriah Drama Program will present a musical, and additional theater programs for Moriah’s elementary-age kids are in the works.

Production Stage Manager Mandy Decker also works with young people at the Henry Street Settlement, the Children's Theatre, the American Family Theatre, and more. Together, Matt and Mandy are among those responsible for renown NYC-based theatrical productions, including the new rock musical SOUL SEARCHING and the long-running comedy A MATCH MADE IN MANHATTAN, THE INTERACTIVE JEWISH WEDDING EXPERIENCE. Their shows have appeared in distinguished venues like Daryl Roth's DR2 Theatre and D-Lounge Cabaret, Makor (now called 92nd Street Y Tribeca), Bowery Poetry Club, Don't Tell Mama's, Mo Pitkins, Theater for the New City, the 45th Street Theater, in the Midtown International Theater Festival, and in the 2008 New York Musical Theater Festival.

Currently, Matt is also responsible for developing what is now known as THE ALL-KIDS ROCK MUSICAL WORKSHOP, featuring a hand-picked cast of Broadway-bound kids, ages 9-19, who are working together to create and premiere a brand new rock musical that will premiere in June ’09 at Manhattan’s landmark Theater For The New City. This project is an outgrowth of the show GENERATIONS, which started as BergenPAC/Kaplen JCC Musical Theater Workshop in ’07. Call (201) 567-6664 or visit blackboxarts.com for further details and additional photos by Ira Machefsky.