Oddfellows’ talent search finals are Saturday

MIDDLETOWN — Oddfellows Playhouse Middletown Teen Talent Search will be held on Saturday, Jan. 19, and is open to Middletown young people ages 12-19. The event is hosted by Connecticut State Troubadour Nekita Waller and the top act will win a cash prize of $500. Tickets to the finals on Saturday are $10 for adults and $5 for children. For tickets, visit www.oddfellows.org or contact Oddfellows at info@oddfellows.org or call 860-347-6143.

Oddfellows Youth Theater offers winter programs in the arts for young people ages 6-20. Programs from classes in theater, music, and visual arts to mainstage theater and circus productions. Programs for teenagers include the Middletown Teen Talent Search, the Teen Repertory Company and Circophony Teen Circus.

For details about any of the programs and more, including tuition and financial aid, or to register, go to www.oddfellows.org or contact Oddfellows at info@oddfellows.org or call 860-347-6143.

The Teen Repertory Company, the Playhouse’s senior company for ages 14 -20, is developing an original, ensemble-created performance piece with music and dance this winter and spring. This Is Important: An Ensemble Creation Experience, offers five winter workshops in which students will develop text, movement and music based on their own experiences of navigating contemporary life as a teenager. The work will be developed into an original, mainstage show which will have auditions in March and be performed in May.

Middletown Public School students ages 6-14 can sign up for Oddbridge, an extended-day program in which students take the bus directly from school to Oddfellows and participate in an hour of Arts Programming before formal classes start at 4:30pm.

The winter program at the Playhouse also features Le Petit Studio, conceived and directed by Congolese theater artist Toto Kisaku. This theater experience is for kids ages 8 – 14 and their families. The class will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays Jan. 26, Feb. 9 and Feb. 23; students may sign up for one Saturday or all three.

Oddfellows programs are tuition based, but the Playhouse is committed to making these experiences available to every young person, regardless of ability to pay. Please refer to the website for financial aid information.