Last night, the Conservatory debuted “Violet,” the Broadway show they’ve been working on for five weeks.
The Conservatory is a summer training program for students interested in acting or technical theater work. At the Conservatory, students have the opportunity to work alongside professionals to grow their skill set.
The cast of students this summer is particularly star-studded, with Ainsley Seiger, best actress winner from the Triangle Rising Stars program and Andrew Bonomolo, a National Association of Teachers of Singing competition winner.
Laura Pates, assistant technical director of the program, said the students are treated as professionals, and as such, do professional level work.
“They learn so quickly and they’re all so talented,” she said. “To see that development over five weeks, it’s the most beautiful thing. It’s why we do what we do.”
Pates also said the program is beneficial to the professionals as well.
“There’s another generation of students wanting to do what we do, and they get to do that with us,” she said. “It makes it worth every minute and every hour of all the work we do.”
The show has local roots as well — Doris Betts, the author of the book “The Ugliest Pilgrim,” which “Violet” is based on, was a UNC-Chapel Hill professor.
