Who We Are
The largest Youth Theatre in Upstate New York and one of the largest in the country, The Merry-Go-Round Youth Theatre reaches more than 125,000 students across the state through its curriculum based multi-discipline Sequential Dramatics Program.
Where it Began
Originally offering weekend drama classes for local youth under the name Auburn Children's Theatre, the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse was founded in September of 1958. In 1961, the children's theatre instituted a semi-professional in-school program. Within four years the program began touring state-wide.
In 1974, the Youth Theatre became fully professionalized. In 1981 Producing Director Ed Sayles took over leadership of the corporation and the Youth Theatre began to grow in earnest. Today, the organization has blossomed into one of the nation's foremost professional touring youth theatres in the country.
What We Do
The Merry-Go-Round Youth Theatre is a touring company, offering school districts performances, workshops and study guide materials tailored to each grade level. We choose productions which compliment the subject matter to help teachers and students in meeting the New York State Learning Standards.
Our program addresses state standards for The Arts, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and Career Development and Occupational studies. The program has been designed to provide programming to every child in your district, every year your district participates.
Are We in Your School?
We understand the degree of commitment in providing arts education and we are equally committed to making our program available to any interested district. Please contact us to discuss how the Merry-Go-Round Youth Theatre can help your district join over 55 others in taking advantage of the Sequential Dramatics Program.
While most districts elect to participate in our full program, we do offer single bookings of our program components. If you have specific needs or interests, please contact us to discuss how the Merry-Go-Round can work for you.
Ed Sayles, Producing Director
ed@merry-go-round.com
Lisa Myers, Associate Producer
lmyers@merry-go-round.com
Stephanie Figer, Educational Theatre Coordinator
youthmgr@merry-go-round.com
(315) 255-1305 X 26