Firestone High School is the home of the secondary school component of the district’s nationally recognized Visual and Performing Arts Program. Students from throughout the area make a daily trek to west Akron to take advantage of our arts curriculum. Students select from five successful programs: choral music, dance, instrumental music, fine art, and theatre. Each program is intensive and designed for the serious student who is intent on pursuing a career in the arts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firestone Theatre is the play production component of this program and features a full season of plays and musicals. We provide students with the opportunity to appear on stage and contribute to the creative process via a backstage or technical role. Firestone students are not just actors but also designers and technicians; our students design sound, lights, scenery, props, and many other aspects of production. Students run the equipment, pull props, play an instrument for the musical pit, focus lights, sell tickets, and record sound effects as well as build, paint, and move scenery. A few especially talented students have earned the privilege of directing a production in the annual festival of one-act plays.

The Firestone Theatre curriculum features two (2) courses of study designed specifically for students intent on a career in the arts. Students may select the Comprehensive Theatre Track for actors and general students of theatre or the Technical Theatre and Design Track for students interested in a career backstage or in the design studio. The Comprehensive Theatre student spends two periods in each day in an intensive theatre curriculum that features four levels of acting in addition to a full slate of technical and foundation courses. The Technical Theatre and Design student follows a course of study that combines the best of our technical and foundation theatre classes with many art classes offered in our respected fine art program.

Students applying for our Theatre Program must proceed through the district’s open enrollment process. Forms are available in the office of every Akron school building starting the first full week of each January. These forms must be completed and returned by the due date to be included in the audition process.

 

Be sure to note your interest in the theatre program in the appropriate blank. All applicants will be contacted via U.S. Mail with specific audition and appointment information. Quetions regarding this process should be directed to the district’s Fine Arts Office at 330.761.3189.

 

Students who already live in the Firestone High School cluster area must complete a separate but related form as these students do not need to open enroll into the building.

All students seeking entrance to Firestone’s Theatre Program must present the following items at the time of their audition: a complete resume, a photocopy of the most recent grade card, a recent photo, and two (2) letters of reference. These materials will not be returned. Students without any or all of these materials will be turned away from the audition. These auditions will be proctored by the theatre director as well as one other member of the arts faculty.

 

Students seeking entrance into the Comprehensive Theatre program must prepare an audition that includes a one-to-two minute monologue from a modern play. We discourage the use of original texts or poetry as well as monologues from plays written prior to 1930. The audition will also include a cold reading, an improvisation exercise, and an informal interview.

 

Students seeking entrance into the Technical Theatre and Design program  must present a portfolio or collection of their art work or related theatre materials. This portfolio should reflect the student’s work in art or theatre classes to that point in their theatre career. The auditioner should also be prepared to discuss in some detail their previous technical theatre experiences and express their sincere interest in pursuing this course of study.

 

The most successful theatre audition will provide some sense of the student’s talent as well as an enthusiasm for a comprehensive arts education. The least successful audition is one in which the student appears to have little to gain from additional theatre education.

All auditioners will be notified in a timely fashion of the audition’s outcome via U.S. Mail. Further instructions will be included in all acceptance letters. Questions regarding this process should be directed to the district’s Fine Arts Office at 330.761.3189.

 

The student may re-apply after a failed first audition attempt. The student is encouraged to pursue additional theatre experiences and to apply for open enrollment during the next school year.