WILLY WONKA BLog: 
WEEK 1

Dear Parents,
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It was great seeing everyone on Sunday. Thank you to everyone who attended the parent meeting. Your positive energy was received and greatly appreciated. This year we definitely have a group of rockstar, get-it-done parents out there. Everyone who sent in their bio by end-of-day on Tuesday will receive a complimentary ticket! It will be waiting for you at Will Call on the day of the performance. Your effort is noted and greatly appreciated.
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First Rehearsal
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The energy was high and the excitement in the air from our actors was amazing! It has been a few weeks since all our actors have seen each other due to the holidays. and so everyone was excited to be back together again! It was truly touching to see friends reunited and hear the buzz in the room as they caught up with one another after the break. Equally fulfilling was to witness new friendships being formed and how this group of children are so welcoming. The first rehearsal is always centered around “breaking the ice” with our fellow actors and staff members, and diving into our theater process.
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We started off with our mindful moment sending ourselves courage and love as we embrace this creative process together, and to comfort and support ourselves in synchronicity with our castmates, as we were soon to reveal our roles. Each of our wonderful staff introduced themselves along with an empowering statement of what they want to see from our actors this season. Everything from providing ourselves with self-care, asking questions to get the support you need, being open to artistic feedback in the effort to stretch our comfort zones and to build upon skills, to respect for ourselves and our castmates, to coming prepared and practicing outside of rehearsals and of course having FUN and so much more! We also re-introduced something we infused into our rehearsal process last year: our word of the day and award of the day. This year we will also be adding a special award that the kids will be responsible for where they can acknowledge each other’s kindness and generosity throughout rehearsals. These awards continue to help encourage our actors to put their best foot forward and to spread love..

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We then watched a SURPRISE, amazing video, tailor-made just for our JPAS actors from Broadway actor Michael Lee Brown.  Michael was part of the original Broadway cast of Dear Evan Hansen and has played the characters Connor and Jared, along with the title role. He shared his excitement, tips, and words of wisdom. Michael also encouraged our actors to make the most of their roles and reminded them that every actor is important when bringing together a show. Our actors and staff were exhilarated and engaged.

We then played a super fun theater bingo game that got everyone out of their seats, making friends, asking questions, and doing all sorts of fun improv. We then spent time cultivating the culture and environment in which our creative journey will flourish. This included the vision for the show, program, and expectations.

We then broke out into our two casts, Golden Ticket and Pure Imagination. Finding out your role in a show is always full of emotions. Our actors were encouraged to understand that the production team hand-picked each actor to be a special puzzle piece in this production. With this show being such a large ensemble show, we reminded them that an actor’s quantity of lines does not equal stage time, and it certainly does not equal the level of importance. Each actor will absolutely  have their moment to shine on stage!
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We finished the day with a full read-through of our script which allowed us to see the big picture and to hear each different voice bring each different character to life. It also allows us to recognize where in the story each song lives, and there are lots of them!  We ended with our appreciation circle. Oh, what a busy, fun, and exciting day we had!

Electronic Resource Library
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Practice at home and use our ERL (Electronic Resource Library) with music and choreography that we will learn each week. The ERL link has all the sing-a-long and performance tracks as well. Please encourage your actors to listen to the music and read through their scripts. The more they absorb at home, the more productive our rehearsals can be.
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Rehearsal –  Sunday, January 18th
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• Everyone should arrive promptly for drop off at 1:30 pm
• Pure Imagination Cast will meet in the Zale
• Golden Ticket Cast will meet upstairs in the Mankoff room.
• Pick-up will be at 5:30 pm in the lobby.
• Please remind our performers to bring their scripts, rehearsal folder, pencil, and a highlighter to every rehearsal.
• Please pack a healthy snack and a water bottle.
• Wear clothes you can easily move in with sneakers or bring your jazz/dance shoes.

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Important Dates & Reminders
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• Sunday January 25 is when we will be taking headshots for both casts. Please make sure your actor is camera-ready!
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• Wednesday January 28 – actor bios are due. I will send reminders, but at the end-of-day on January 28, if we have not received your actor’s bio, they will not be included in the playbill. Note:  the google form will not allow you to italicize, unfortunately, so we will take care of that on our end.  
  
  • Pure Imagination Bio: Pure Imagination Cast - Cast Bios
  • Golden Ticket Bio: Golden Ticket Cast - Cast Bios
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• Wednesday January 28– actor Playbill Ad/Messages are due. Think of our playbill as our annual fundraiser. Your actor will get a memory of a lifetime and the proceeds will  help fund our amazing performing arts program. The playbill is also a great way for friends and family who can’t attend a performance  but want to show their support and love with a special note!.  Have a small business?  Placing an ad in our playbill is a strategic way to reach the community. Use jccdallas.org/playbillads to purchase your playbill ad and to submit the actual ad using the google form.  Instructions can be found using the link I provided above.  
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• Costume fittings are coming up earlier this year!
  
  • February 1 will be for our Golden Ticket Cast
  • February 8 will be for our Pure Imagination Cast
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• I encourage you to please take care of both the bio and playbill ad now. Knock it off your to-do list and feel like a rock star.
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• Again, Congrats to everyone who took our bio challenge! You did such a great job!

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Healthy Snacks
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Please do your best to provide healthy snacks, low in sugar. Healthy, low-sugar snacks help to keep our performers engaged, focused, and on task. We will not be using the vending machines. Again, please pack a water bottle too!

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Follow us on Social Media
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Stay up to date on the latest and greatest!

• ‍Instagram‍
• Facebook
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Tickets Are On Sale Now
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‍Purchase your tickets. I look forward to seeing you work your magic on social media. Our parent digital marketing kits, as mentioned in our meeting, will be sent out in a few weeks. Friendly reminder: all purchased tickets will be waiting for you at Will Call on the day of the performance. If you are interested in a yard sign or a marketing flyer to hang up at School, coffee shop, etc… please let me know as I have a several left over from our meeting.
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The Count Down for Summer Camp 2026 has Begun
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Every year we offer some amazing camps. Our performing arts camps, Camp StarQuest and Camp StarPower, as well as our specialty One Weekers camps tend to fill quickly, and space is limited. 

• Registration opens January 20 for members.
• Registration opens January 27 for non-members/summer friends
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We want to see you this summer, so please put a reminder on your calendar to register once camps open and save your spot! Once full we will have an “official” waitlist.
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• Click here to learn more about StarQuest, June 8 – July 3
• Click here to learn more about StarPower, July 6 -July 17
• Click here to learn more about our One-Weekers, one week boutique specialty camps.

• Global Gourmet, July 20 – July 24

• Whisk and Wonder July 27 – July 31
• Creative Fusion Aug 3 - Aug 7
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This is How We Do It At JPAS

I want to close by saying thank you! We appreciate you being a part of our JPAS family. I left our meeting on Sunday and rehearsals feeling energized and excited about our shared JPAS experience this season.

Shine Bright,

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