(UNION, NJ) -- Premiere Stages, the professional theatre company in residence at Kean University,  has announced that Camp Premiere, the annual summer theatre program for middle school and high school students, will be moved online this summer. The newly reimagined Camp Premiere Online will host camp sessions designed specifically for an interactive video platform, allowing campers to take the stage to their screens.

“We are meeting this moment by continuing to find compelling ways to engage with our community, safely and creatively,” states Premiere’s Education Manager, Nick Gandiello. “Our innovative online sessions will bring the collaborative spirit of Camp Premiere’s past summers into an exciting new form.”

In Theatremakers: Time Travel to Now! (July 13-24), middle schoolers will learn the elements of acting, improv, and playwriting while collaborating to create original material, themed around characters from past, present, and future, and crafted specifically for internet performance.

Actors Studio: The Online Studio (July 27-August 7) will provide high schoolers with a focused study of the craft of acting through monologues, scene study and plays selected for the virtual setting, while also sharpening performance techniques and deepening their sense of self.

Both camps will culminate in a live-streamed performance of the campers’ work for friends and family, which will also be available as a recording.

Premiere Stages is committed to ensuring that all students who are interested in Camp Premiere Online are afforded the opportunity to participate. Accordingly, the tuition deadline has been extended to June 29 and the cost of tuition has been reduced by 25%, while maintaining a full schedule and dedicated roster of teaching artists.

Camper Registration Forms and the Tuition Payment Portal can be found on Premiere Stages’ website.  

Premiere Stages has also announced that it will be rescheduling the 2020 Play Factory Performance Series, which features professional theatre presentations for people of all ages and abilities, until Summer 2021. The 2020 partners - Yates Musical Theatre and Pushcart Players - will be back as part of the 2021 lineup. But the company still plans to be very active during the summer. In addition to Camp Premiere, Premiere Stages will be producing multiple virtual offerings in June and July, including master classes, readings and a solo show. John J. Wooten, Producing Artistic Director of Premiere Stages, indicated that the virtual roster of summer events will be announced in early June.

Premiere Stages offers affordable prices, air-conditioned facilities and free parking close to the theatre. Premiere Stages also provides free or discounted tickets to patrons with disabilities. All Premiere Stages facilities are fully accessible spaces, and companion seating is available for patrons with disabilities. Assistive listening devices and large print programs are available at all times; publications in alternate formats are available with advance notice. Sign-interpreted, audio-described and open-captioned performances are available upon request; please call 908-737-4077 at least two weeks prior to your desired performance.  

Premiere Stages is made possible in part through funding from W. John Bauer and Nancy Boucher, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Northfield Bank Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The Union Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Investors Foundation, The Union County HEART Grant, Actors’ Equity Foundation, and through the generous support of individual patrons and local organizations. Discover Jersey Arts is our marketing partner. Visit www.JerseyArts.com for more information about other arts programming happening around the Garden State. 

Premiere Stages is committed to producing topical plays and interactive programs that reflect people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, religious groups, gender identities, ages, abilities, disabilities and sexual preferences.