The Artists' Studio facts for kids

The Artists' Studio is a special theater in Fishers, Indiana, USA. It's a place where people can enjoy live shows and even learn how to act, sing, and dance! David and Joellyn Young, who used to work on big Broadway shows, started this theater in January 2003. David was a musical director for famous shows like Camelot and The Music Man. Joellyn was an actress, even playing Eva Perón in Evita.

The theater building used to be a nightclub, but it was changed to have a stage. It's now a popular spot in the Noblesville area.

The stage at The Artists' Studio is designed in a classic way. It allows for different decorations and even lets the back wall move! The theater has seats for 220 people, with good sound and lighting systems. There are also offices and classrooms. Most people who work at the theater, including the actors and crew, are volunteers who love theater.

Theater Shows and Seasons

Each year, The Artists' Studio usually puts on eight different shows. This often includes a special holiday show. For several years, they also had a "young artists production" just for performers aged 13 to 25. These young artists even performed Grease more than once!

Theater seasons usually finish when summer starts and begin again shortly after. During the summer, the theater often holds auditions for all the shows coming up in the new season. Sometimes, they hold extra auditions for specific shows too. The Artists' Studio traditionally performs Annie around Christmas time and The Rocky Horror Show around Halloween.

Popular Shows: Annie and The Rocky Horror Show

The first time The Artists' Studio performed The Rocky Horror Show in 2003, it was named one of the best shows in Indiana by NUVO magazine. Brent Marty played the character Dr. Frank-N-Furter in that production.

Annie was the theater's yearly holiday show until 2006, and sometimes after that too. Jay Meisenhelder played the main male character, Daddy Warbucks, for several years. Annie was also the first show at The Artists' Studio to have two different groups of child actors, called Cast A and Cast B. This became a common practice for all future Annie shows and other productions that needed many child performers.

Family-Friendly Theater

After Annie became very popular and sold more tickets than any other show, The Artists' Studio started including more and more children in their productions. They even added children to shows that didn't originally need them, like having young "urchins" in Aladdin.

Over time, many shows featuring children were performed at The Artists' Studio. Some of these popular musicals included The Wizard of Oz, Oliver, Seussical, The Music Man, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The Artists' Studio Kids Programs

Besides offering classes and camps, The Artists' Studio also began putting on shows just for children. This started with Bye Bye Birdie in November 2007, followed by Grease in spring 2008, and many more shows after that. For these special children's productions, young performers pay a fee to be part of the show. This is a bit different from some other theaters in the area.

Other Fun Activities

The Artists' Studio offers more than just shows! They also have classes where you can learn dancing, acting, and singing. Plus, they host children's birthday parties.

Since The Artists' Studio is a for-profit business, it means they don't qualify for certain awards given to community theaters in Indiana, like those from the Encore Association. This is because those awards are usually for theaters that don't pay their performers.