The Drama Studio Announces 

Annual Fund Drive 2012!

Read a very personal 2012 Annual Fund letter from our Managing Director, Kyle Kate Dudley below . . . 

Brigid Sawyer and Jenny McNary in Orphan Trains

November 20, 2011

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Drama Studio’s 25^th Season.  This is my first year as Managing Director, and I have to tell you, it is my dream job. I am delighted to join Amelia Hays-Rivest and Dan Morbyrne as a part of the Studio’s director trifecta. 

I used to be passionate about being an actor, but over the years, I have become more passionate about facilitating the education of young actors. I can remember the exact afternoon when the scales tipped.  In September of my senior year as a drama student at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, I found myself at what was supposed to be the pinnacle of the Tisch experience.  I had been asked to an incredibly competitive call-back for a prestigious mainstage production. Closer to my dream than ever, I entered the theatre: my stomach fluttering with excitement, my palms sweaty. 

Five minutes into the audition, however, I was crestfallen.  None of the other actors seemed excited.  The directors gave a speech making it clear to us that despite our commitment and talent, each one of us was completely expendable.  The call-back was a treacherous three-hour read-through of the entire play, during which the stage manager would shout out an actor’s name with no warning, compelling each actor to bolt out of her seat and read with a frightened-rabbit-like mixture of terror and self-importance.  This was not what I called acting, and certainly not what I thought acting training was meant to be.

Leaving the audition, I considered where I had been most supported in my theatre education and it didn’t take long to recognize the place that I had been most valued: the Drama Studio. My training with Amelia, Steve and the rest of the DS staff had fostered in me a fierce passion and fiercer self-respect.  By the time I was in seventh grade, Amelia had taught me that with a mixture of discipline, imagination and willingness, I could be anything.  By age 13, Steve had taught me about individual presence and broader awareness onstage: lessons I have carried into every social and professional situation.

I was cast in Saint Joan, that high-stakes production during my senior year of undergrad.  I didn’t take the part: instead, I got an internship teaching young women in the Bronx theatre and creative writing.  That choice set me on the path to become a candidate for the Managing Director position at the Drama Studio, and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Steve offered me an apprenticeship at the Studio in 2009.  I took it without hesitation: this was my chance to help young people discover their individuality and value through art and theatre! I finally had the opportunity to pass on the Studio’s gift of confidence and empowerment, and I was overjoyed.

This season, I’ve had the opportunity to see high quality work from our staff and students.  One example is Present Company Excluded; a breathtaking play that had me frozen to my seat at intermission, reflecting on the deep emotional wounds of those families fortunate enough to survive the Holocaust.  Vitally important to the Drama Studio is the fact that this play is narrated through the eyes of a strong, sharp 13-year old boy.  It is heartening to be reminded of the keen awareness and sensitivity that young people have in even the direst of situations.

The Studio celebrates this awareness and sensitivity in people aged 9 to 19, exactly when society tells them that they’re unaware and over-sensitive.  We believe that by fostering the inherent wisdom of young people, we can uplift their individual creativity and expression, thereby encouraging them to become imaginative, successful adults.

In a recent letter to the Studio, a student reflected on her DS experience: “I made great, real friends for the first time in years, while doing something that I loved. I stopped waking up in the morning dreading the thought of having to be around people my own age.”  This sentiment is exactly what hundreds of students echo when they walk through these doors, this is what I found here, and this is why the Studio is so much more than a theatre conservatory.

Gifts from businesses, foundations and individuals like you make up 40% of the Studio’s budget.  We need your help to continue to give young people the gift of discovering their unique and incredible worth.

Please, donate to the Drama Studio’s Annual Fund Drive this year.

If you could donate today or make a pledge, it would make a huge difference to the Drama Studio.   

Thank you for your continued support of the Studio and all that we do.  Thank you for supporting our leadership transition and helping to continue Steve Hays’ amazing legacy of enriching young people.  Without the Drama Studio, I wouldn’t be so proud of who I am, and without individuals like you none of this would be possible.

I wish you and your family the best for the winter season!

Sincerely,

Kyle Kate Dudley 

Kyle Kate Dudley
Managing Director

P.S.  Remember that anything you can contribute helps!  $50 pays for two conservatory classes for a scholarship student or allows six public school students to see the DS touring program.