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Las Vegas Academy
of
International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts
Clark County School District
315 S 7th St
Las Vegas NV 89101
History of Las Vegas Academy Theatre
Las Vegas
Academy Theatre has established a rich history of serving the theatre
community in the Las Vegas valley. Academy Theatre has nearly 300
theatre and theatre technologies majors, all of whom participate fully
in the program. The Las Vegas Academy has two beautiful
performance spaces: the LVA Performing Arts Center that seats
1300, and
the new Las Vegas Academy Lowden Theater for the Performing Arts, a
state-of-the-art theatre
and concert hall that seats 750.
In addition to
the performance spaces, Academy Theatre has a full scene shop and
costume shop, rehearsal space and instructional classrooms, including a
Black Box Theatre that is used for class work, showcases and chamber
concerts.
Academy Theatre
has six full-time instructors and two
paraprofessionals that assist in
the operation of the shops and classrooms.
Each school year
Academy Theatre presents a season of shows that are offered to the
community in the form of a subscription package.
Recent productions on season
subscription include Thoroughly
Modern
Millie, Miss
Saigon, The Grapes of Wrath. Anatomy of Gray, Once On This Island,
Jekyll and Hyde, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Taming
of the Shrew, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Laramie Project and Les
Míserables. These productions are produced
and
staged utilizing the talents of our wonderful students.
Academy Theatre
is also a proud supporter of Broadway Cares/Equity
Fights AIDS, and
donates several thousand dollars a year collected from our audiences to
this worthy cause. Academy Theatre has raised more money for
BC/EFA
than any other high school, in excess of $50,000. This money
returns to southern Nevada to assist local people dealing with health
issues such as hiv/AIDS and cancer.
Students from
all over the Las Vegas area wake up well before dawn and ride the bus,
sometimes for many miles, to be to school at 7:00 am. After a
rigorous academic day, theatre students begin “part two” of their
school day: the rehearsal and production of their season and showcase
shows. In addition, the theatre technologies students provide
technical support for all theatrical, dance and music performances on
campus.
Academy Theatre has been active in the International
Thespian Society, and has taken four shows to the Thespian
Festival: Children of Eden (1996), And They
Dance Real Slow in Jackson (2001), Honk!
(2002), and Jekyll and Hyde (2004), and
had the privilege of producing the Thespian National Cast of Ragtime in 2005.
There are
currently many former Academy Theatre actors, designers and technicians
going to school and working in the entertainment industry across the
country, and in the entertainment capitol of the world, Las Vegas.
About
the Las Vegas Academy
The
Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts
is a magnet school that brings together culturally diverse students
from all over Clark County, state of Nevada in the United States.
Established in 1993, Las Vegas Academy is located In the center of the
Las
Vegas High School Historical District, an historic urban shopping
district.
The Academy
offers students in grades 9 through 12 the opportunity to pursue a
major in dance, vocal music, Instrumental music, international studies,
piano, theatre, theatre technologies and visual arts. In addition,
students take all of their academic classes at the Academy.
Students attend each class for 86 minutes per day as compared with the
standard 50 minutes in a typical American comprehensive high school.
The Academy is on a modified block scheduling: academic classes meet
every other day; major classes meet every day. This scheduling provides
for more intensive Instruction in the student's chosen major area.
Students also attend an extended school day: one hour longer than other
comprehensive high schools.
The Academy
offers students an intellectually challenging learning experience and
empowers them with the skills and knowledge to compete successfully in
the international workplace. Since opening, the school has placed
at the top of the Clark County School District's academic program with
standardized test scores maintained at the 75th or better
percentiles. Over sixty percent of its graduating seniors enroll
in four-year universities each year and another ten percent enter
junior colleges for a grand total of over seventy percent enrollment at
the university level.
The Academy has
received national, state, and local accolades, including those from the
White House, Senators Harry Reid, Richard Bryan, and John Ensign,
former Governor Bob Miller and former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones and
current Mayor Oscar Goodman. Academy Theatre has taken five productions
to the prestigious International Thespian Festival In Lincoln,
Nebraska. The Academy has received three Grammy Signature School
awards for excellence in music programs and has been recognized by the
International Network of Performing and Visual Arts schools as a STAR
school. In addition, in 2000, the U.S. Department of Education
recognized the Academy as a New American High School. In 2002, the U.S.
Department of Education honored the Academy as a U.S. Blue Ribbon
School, making it one out of only 17 high schools in the country to
have received both prestigious awards. And all within the last 14
years.
Find out more
about the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and
Visual Arts by visiting our
web site:
http://ccsd.net/schools/LVAISPVA/
