BREAKING


NEWS

For immediate release

March 2008

 GREASEPAINT APPOINTS CHILDSPLAY VETERAN AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

D. Scott Withers, a veteran actor and director who has been a member of the acclaimed Childsplay theatre company for 19 years, will join the staff of the revived Greasepaint Youtheatre as Artistic Director this spring.

Withers, who directed the highly successful production of Stephen Sondheim’s INTO THE WOODS which is currently playing at the Scottsdale theatre, has served as an actor, teacher and Associate Artist with Childsplay.  In this capacity he has taught acting as a resident artist in many schools through out the valley and has directed more than 35 children’s productions in Childsplay’s summer programs.  

Scott is no stranger to Greasepaint Youtheatre. He has directed many previous productions for them, including  Footloose (Arizoni Award), Annie Get Your Gun (Arizoni Award), Snoopy!!! (Arizoni Award), Once on This Island, and most recently, Into the Woods.    Other directing credits include The Life for Black Theatre Troupe, The Women for Phoenix Theatre, Jeffrey (Arizoni Award) and Deporting the Divas for In Mixed Company, Meet Me in St. Louis at the Sundome, The Philadelphia Story and Lonely Planet.  For Stagebrush Theatre, he directed The Crucible, Love Letters, The Music Man, The Sound of Music, Victor/Victoria, and Into the Woods and appeared in Closer Than Ever, Love Letters and Guys and Dolls.

Scott was the founding Managing Director of In Mixed Company and served as the interim Artistic Director of Stagebrush Theater in 2001.   He currently serves on the board of directors for the AriZoni Awards of Excellence and has sat on grant panels for the Arizona Commission for the Arts and the Scottsdale Cultural Council.  Scott holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Arizona State University and is originally from Idaho.

Serving Scottsdale and surrounding communities, Greasepaint Youtheatre programming is designed to develop the life skills and aesthetic knowledge that Youth will carry with them both as Artists and Audiences of Tomorrow.

Greasepaint describes its mission as “ to nurture the intellectual, artistic, and personal development of Youth through a range of professionally managed and directed theatrical experiences, drama education, and the power of live theatre performance

The next Greasepaint production will be DISNEY’S MULAN JR, directed by Chris Hamby, with music directed by Karen Rolston. Auditions are February 25-28^th, 2008.  Rehearsals begin March 10, 2008 and the show runs from April 25-May 18, 2008. To set up an audition, please call 602-889-5293. Performances are Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm.  Cost $10.00-$15.00 per ticket.

All performances are at Stagebrush Theater at 7020 E. 2^nd Street in Old Town Scottsdale.