Acting Up Theatre Company

"Anything is Possible"

Back to School! *School Residencies*				Fish Tank Follies *11th Annual Summer Reading Tour*
During the school year we work in elementary schools all over the state; we take an entire section (up to seven classes and spend up to forty-five munutes a day with each one) and treat the students to many different aspects of theatre and academics. To book a week please visit our Booking Information section. Or to learn more please visit our School Residencies section.				When the school year ends we take to the stage ourselves. We write, produce, direct and perform an original play for libraries and summer schools all over Michigan; but book fast, dates are already beginning to fill up. To book shows please visit our Booking Information section. Or to learn more please visit our Summer Reading Tour section.

Acting Up Theatre Company has been providing schools, institutions and Libraries with its unique brand of educational theatre since 1996 and hopes to continue well into the new century. They have performed customized shows tailored to fit the needs of the client and theatrical residences that revolve around the curriculum of the school's choice. The company was started by then Kirtland Community College student Kurt Thoma. Kurt, with the help of instructor and mentor Ron Koenig, wanted to create a resident theatre company for the college that would reach out into the community through theatre. Through creating Acting Up Theatre Co., Kurt was able to produce dinner theatres for local hotels and educational children's shows for the area schools. The real breakthrough however came in 1997 when Kurt was asked to create a program that could go into a school for a week, work with each class for up to 45 minutes a day and build a play around Michigan's History. Kurt's answer to this challenge has become the official mantra of The Acting Up Theatre Company; "Anything is Possible!"

With theatre and a child's imagination, the company found that anything truly is possible. What started out as nine weeks of Michigan History residences in all of the schools in the Crawford, Oscoda, Ogemaw, Roscommon Intermediate School District (C.O.O.R. ISD) has turned into over twenty five weeks in over ten different districts. The curriculum has since expanded to include:American History, Character Counts, Economics, Core Democratic Values, Local History, Explorers and Regional Social Studies. Our residency program is so flexible that it can be customized into the curriculum of the teacher or administrator's choice. We accept and even request suggestions from our clients. In fact one school wanted their residency theme to be "Flexibility" and we said of course "Anything is possible!"