articles

Valley Treasures | Easy Street Productions

Youngstown is lucky to have Easy Street Productions!

By Leann Rich May 14, 2019

Thanks to Easy Street Productions, I was able to take a few of my favorite Macaroni Kids to see Matilda this past weekend at The DeYor Performing Arts Center. All I can say is WOW - there is some amazing talent in the Valley! The show was filled with music and dancing, and the kids in the show performed like seasoned pros! This is why I think that Maureen Collins and Easy Street Productions are a Valley Treasure!  Learn about their history from the Easy Street website, and check out the summer workshops that are coming up.  If your child wants to be a star, get them involved with Easy Street!

The History of Easy Street Productions

Easy Street Productions, Youngstown’s first and only professional stock theatre company, began in 1988 when co-founders, Todd Hancock and Maureen Collins, wrote, directed, and starred in “429 Miles Off Broadway.” The show featured moments from their favorite musicals including a little known show called “Pump Boys and Dinettes.” The audience response to the Pump Boys segment of the show prompted the troupe to mount a full-scale production of the show at the Uptown Theatre, a forgotten movie house in the city’s fledgling Uptown District. “Pump Boys and Dinettes” was an immediate success garnering rave reviews from every local newspaper as well as Cleveland’s Plain Dealer, the first and only time the publication traveled to Youngstown to review a show. The show went on to become Youngstown’s longest-running musical playing for an unprecedented two-years and 200 performances.

In 1993 Easy Street moved their productions from the 275-seat venue on Market Street to the 2,000+ seats of Powers Auditorium in downtown Youngstown’s newly renovated DeYor Performing Arts Center. For nearly 30 years Easy Street Productions has mounted full-scale Broadway shows and in many cases have rented the original Broadway sets and costumes for musicals such as “The Will Rogers Follies,” “Annie,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Music Man,” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” just to name a few. Their annual holiday spectacular, “Miracle on Easy Street,” has been growing stronger over the past twenty-eight years and now entertains over 10,000 people every Christmas season.

Throughout Easy Street’s history, they have raised over a million dollars for local charities, enriched the lives of young people through their musical workshops, and have established a brand of family entertainment that is unsurpassed in the tri-country area.

Summer Workshops - Two Sessions!
6 Saturdays Each!

SESSION ONE: May 25th-June 29th
SESSION TWO: July 13th-Aug. 17th

DOWNLOAD REGISTRATION FORM

Join Maureen Collins this summer for Little Rascal musical theater workshops at the DeYor! These fun-filled age-appropriate classes are perfect for beginners as well as the more advanced. Participants will focus on singing and performing while joining other classmates in a wide variety of musical games and theatrical activities designed specifically for their age level.

Classes are held every Saturday for 6 consecutive weeks in the Adler Arts Academy Studios located directly above the DeYor PAC box office. (Entrance is to right of box office doors on W. Federal St.) Each workshop ends with a final performance for parents, family and friends in the DeYor’s beautiful Ford Family Recital Hall!

SATURDAY CLASS SCHEDULE:
Ages 3, 4, & 5 10:00 - 11:00 am
Ages 6, 7 & 8 11:30 - 1:00 pm
Ages 9 yrs & older 1:30 - 3:00 pm

Cost of the workshop is $100 and includes a cast t-shirt to be worn for the final performance. Class space is limited and always fills up fast!

In addition to their final performances at the DeYor, participants of the summer workshops will be invited to perform with Easy Street Productions for their annual free concert at Mill Creek Park's Morley Pavilion!

Please download, print and complete the registration form and mail with a check made payable to Maureen Collins to:

Easy Street Productions
865 Mahoning Ave.
Youngstown, Ohio 44502

Register early space is limited!

For more information or to reserve a spot email Miss Maureen at easystreetshows@aol.com, or call Easy Street Productions at (330)743-8555.