Henry “Dickie” Marrow, a 23-year-old U.S. Army veteran whose wife was pregnant with their third daughter, was beaten down and shot to death in the street by Robert Teel, Teel’s 18-year-old son Larry, and Roger Oakley, Teel’s 21-year-old stepson, for allegedly making a remark to Larry Teel’s wife. Despite testimony by two black eyewitnesses, the men were acquitted of the crime by an all-white jury. Roger Oakley, Teel’s stepson, actually confessed to shooting the gun but was never indicted. But it was the Teels’ acquittal for their hotheaded hate crime that launched the city of Oxford, North Carolina into a season of violent reprisals.

The performance will be accompanied by gospel vocalist Mary D. Williams.

Discretionary Warning: adult themes and language

Join us, ONLINE, as Katarina SynClaire hosts a drag filled event for our local Asheville community!

Drag Performers Featuring:
Indica Gemini (Deondre M. Shellman)
Alexis Black
Danielle Moon (Danielle Mayes)

All tips this week go to the entertainers! Thanks for all your support!

Get your tipping apps downloaded prior to the event:
Venmo: @LetsGet-Digital
Cash App: $letsgetdigital4

***We will be following all CDC guidelines and Governor Roy Cooper’s Phase 2 recommendations for NC concerning the CoronaVirus Pandemic:
* We will have less than 10 people participating and on premise
* We will stay socially distant from one another while on site
* No one that feels under the weather or that are showing any signs of sickness will be allowed to participate

• Sandburg Home Free Tour Days and National Park Fee Free Days (when noted)
  Visitors can enjoy free tours of the Sandburg Home on 10 days in 2020. Five days are also fee free days at all national parks.
• April 11, 2020 (first Saturday of local school spring break)
• April 18, 2020 – First Day of National Park Week (national fee free day)
• June 13, 2020 (Sandburgs’ wedding anniversary)
• August 25, 2020 – National Park Service Birthday (national fee free day)
• September 26, 2020 – National Public Lands Day (national fee free day)
• October 17, 2020 (Park Anniversary)
• November 11, 2020 – Veterans Day
• December 26, 2020 (Saturday after Christmas)

Last year, our own Chris Joyell, Director of the Asheville Design Center guided us on a walking tour of downtown Asheville. This year, we’re touring Asheville on bikes. We’re teaming up with The Flying Bike Tours to take out a fleet of electric bikes. We will still pass through downtown, where Chris will share his extensive knowledge about Asheville’s urban core, including stories of how redlining has shaped our city and what the future could hold for Asheville. With the bikes, we will expand our range, pedaling through the River Arts District and the Southside, experiencing the highlights (and lowlights) of Asheville’s bike infrastructure. We will stop frequently to hear from Chris about the history of development in these areas and what the future might look like in these places.

The bike rental includes a helmet and the bikes have a basket with a waterproof cover to store your belongings while riding. We encourage folks to bring water and snacks, wear close-toed shoes, and dress appropriately for the weather (sunscreen, raincoat, sunglasses/hat etc.). We do recommend that folks have prior experience riding a bike, the transition from a normal bike to an electric one is easy, but they do require some knowledge of how to ride. If you’re not in professional biker shape, don’t worry! The electric bikes are much easier to ride than a normal bike. Uphills are a breeze.

All participants will be required to agree to our COVID-19 event guidelines listed below and again agree to comply with the policies on the day of the event in addition to signing our standard wavier.

GHOSTED: COMEDY WALKING TOUR

COVID has postponed our bus tours, but it won’t stop us from laughing! Our brand new experience is an up tempo theatrical walking tour of haunted Asheville. You and 13 others will depart from the LaZoom Room and follow an undead guide through Asheville’s creepy streets in search of window into the past. Along the way, we’ll encounter real ghosts that will have you jumping out of your skin. Not really! Or really? Take the tour and find out!

Henry “Dickie” Marrow, a 23-year-old U.S. Army veteran whose wife was pregnant with their third daughter, was beaten down and shot to death in the street by Robert Teel, Teel’s 18-year-old son Larry, and Roger Oakley, Teel’s 21-year-old stepson, for allegedly making a remark to Larry Teel’s wife. Despite testimony by two black eyewitnesses, the men were acquitted of the crime by an all-white jury. Roger Oakley, Teel’s stepson, actually confessed to shooting the gun but was never indicted. But it was the Teels’ acquittal for their hotheaded hate crime that launched the city of Oxford, North Carolina into a season of violent reprisals.

The performance will be accompanied by gospel vocalist Mary D. Williams.

Discretionary Warning: adult themes and language

Henry “Dickie” Marrow, a 23-year-old U.S. Army veteran whose wife was pregnant with their third daughter, was beaten down and shot to death in the street by Robert Teel, Teel’s 18-year-old son Larry, and Roger Oakley, Teel’s 21-year-old stepson, for allegedly making a remark to Larry Teel’s wife. Despite testimony by two black eyewitnesses, the men were acquitted of the crime by an all-white jury. Roger Oakley, Teel’s stepson, actually confessed to shooting the gun but was never indicted. But it was the Teels’ acquittal for their hotheaded hate crime that launched the city of Oxford, North Carolina into a season of violent reprisals.

The performance will be accompanied by gospel vocalist Mary D. Williams.

Discretionary Warning: adult themes and language

GHOSTED: COMEDY WALKING TOUR

COVID has postponed our bus tours, but it won’t stop us from laughing! Our brand new experience is an up tempo theatrical walking tour of haunted Asheville. You and 13 others will depart from the LaZoom Room and follow an undead guide through Asheville’s creepy streets in search of window into the past. Along the way, we’ll encounter real ghosts that will have you jumping out of your skin. Not really! Or really? Take the tour and find out!

GHOSTED: COMEDY WALKING TOUR

COVID has postponed our bus tours, but it won’t stop us from laughing! Our brand new experience is an up tempo theatrical walking tour of haunted Asheville. You and 13 others will depart from the LaZoom Room and follow an undead guide through Asheville’s creepy streets in search of window into the past. Along the way, we’ll encounter real ghosts that will have you jumping out of your skin. Not really! Or really? Take the tour and find out!

Then join us for a fun and physical virtual theatre class that combines reading, creative movement, acting, music, and art! In lively Zoom classes rooted in creative play and inspired by literature, students will explore improvisation, acting through movement, character development, and more. 

The Dave Hart Scholarship Fund was created in memory of Studio 52’s friend, artist, and educator Dave Hart.
​Dave believed that all students, no matter their background or resources, benefit from participating in theatre.

​​A small number of full and partial need-based scholarships are available upon application. 
Applications are due by September 4. Please fill out the Scholarship Application Form which includes basic student, guardian, and household information as well as a short written statement outlining the purpose and significance of a scholarship. Recipients will be notified via email by September 9.

Does your little kid have a big imagination and lots of energy? Then join us for a fun and physical virtual theatre class that combines reading, creative movement, acting, music, and art! In lively Zoom classes rooted in creative play and inspired by literature, students will explore improvisation, acting through movement, character development, and more. 

Mondays from 3 – 3:45 PM
Sep. 21 – Nov. 16
K – 2nd Grades
Weekly Zoom class
Instructor: Tania Battista
$150

Does your little kid have a big imagination and lots of energy? Then join us for a fun and physical virtual theatre class that combines reading, creative movement, acting, music, and art! In lively Zoom classes rooted in creative play and inspired by literature, students will explore improvisation, acting through movement, character development, and more. 

Mondays from 3 – 3:45 PM
Sep. 21 – Nov. 16
K – 2nd Grades
Weekly Zoom class
Instructor: Tania Battista
$150

Does your little kid have a big imagination and lots of energy? Then join us for a fun and physical virtual theatre class that combines reading, creative movement, acting, music, and art! In lively Zoom classes rooted in creative play and inspired by literature, students will explore improvisation, acting through movement, character development, and more.

Mondays from 3 – 3:45 PM
Sep. 21 – Nov. 16
K – 2nd Grades
Weekly Zoom class
Instructor: Tania Battista
$150Does your little kid have a big imagination and lots of energy? Then join us for a fun and physical virtual theatre class that combines reading, creative movement, acting, music, and art! In lively Zoom classes rooted in creative play and inspired by literature, students will explore improvisation, acting through movement, character development, and more. 

Mondays from 3 – 3:45 PM
Sep. 21 – Nov. 16
K – 2nd Grades
Weekly Zoom class
Instructor: Tania Battista
$150

Explore improvisation, characterization, voice and speech, costume design, and more as you create an original virtual play! With a combination of weekly in-person classes and one private 20-minute session with your instructor, students will develop, memorize, film, and share a video of their role in the play. At the end of the semester, each actor’s part will be edited together to create a virtual performance!

3rd – 5th Grades
Weekly Zoom class, one 20-minute private lesson
Instructors: Anna Kimmell, Tania Battista

Dive into the development of full and fun characters in this imaginative acting class where students learn about character creation and analysis. With an emphasis on improvisation, collaboration, and self-scripting, actors will leave feeling more confident making bold and specific choices on screen, on stage, and in life. At the end of the semester, actors will share their original characters in a one-of-a-kind virtual showcase.

Weekly Zoom class
Instructor: TJ Medel

This class will be offered in person on the ACT Mainstage, following all the recommended protocols for safety and sanitation. Class is limited to 8 students.

Incorporating aspects of the top improv programs in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, this course covers the fundamentals of improvisational acting with an emphasis on comedy; such as listening, commitment, adding information, agreement, intuitive reaction over desperate invention, as well as recognizing and capitalizing on emerging patterns. The class is crafted in such a way to have participants gradually gain their improv instincts through enjoyable and achievable exercises rather than teaching them the taste of disappointment and frustration. Students will gain experience and confidence in unscripted comedic performance through a series of improvised stories, scenes, and group structures; all done from a safe distance.

*In person classes are 50 minutes with an added 10 minutes for temperature checks*

 Taught by Amanda Klinikowski 

6 week class meets on Tuesdays.

Have you ever wanted to use your voice, body, and imagination to say something you believe in?! Then this is the class for you! Each day we will warm up our bodies, voices, and imagination and work together to create an original skit with movement based on one of Aesop’s Fables! Our final class session will be recorded and shared with friends and families. This class is taught using ZOOM video conferencing.

Lights, camera, action! “Let’s go to the movies” in this fun class celebrating

Weekly Zoom class, one 20-minute private coaching
Instructors: Anna Kimmell, Matthew Glover

Tuesdays from 4:30 – 5:30 PM

Lights, camera, action! “Let’s go to the movies” in this fun class celebrating songs of the silver screen! In a combination of weekly Zoom sessions and one private coaching, young actors will work with Studio 52 faculty to develop their skills in vocal technique, acting through song, and movement. The semester culminates in a one-of-a-kind movie musical revue, presented in a final virtual screening! 

Hone your ability to create honest characters, feel confident connecting and collaborating with others, and discover freedom and playfulness. In this class for high school actors (both beginners and experienced performers), students will explore performance technique in the development of monologues (which can be used for future auditions), as well as digging deep into character objectives and tactics. At the end of the semester, share your newfound skills in a final virtual showcase.

Tuesdays from 6 – 7 PM
Sep. 22 – Nov. 17
9th – 12th Grades
​Weekly Zoom class
Instructors: Betsy Bisson, Lisa K. Bryant
​

Award-winning script brought to life by the talented Rosalind Ashford