Growing out of two decades of community-building and artistic experimentation by the Castillo Theatre and the All Stars Talent Show Network, Theatre for the Whole City offers a wide array of performance experiences, continually brings together people and cultures that aren’t supposed to mix: hip-hop and avant-garde, community talent show and political theatre, young and old, professional and community artists. A growing ensemble of innovative performers, directors and designers brings you a new season of theatre that you never expected to see on 42nd street—or anywhere else! Please check this website (www.castillo.org)  for more news about upcoming productions and shows.

The Castillo Theatre brings challenging, thought-provoking entertainment to the heart of New York’s theatre world.  Castillo Theatre has produced over 130 productions, from multi-cultural and avant-garde plays, to musical theatre and performance projects.  In every one of its diverse productions, Castillo provides a creative environment in which people, young and old, can produce and view theatre that deals with the contemporary and historical social issues. In 2008, Castillo anticipates collaborating with theatre colleagues such as the New Federal Theatre and the Living Theatre, creating co-productions of several Fred Newman plays; under consideration are Satchel: A Requiem for Racism and What is To Be Dead? (Philosophical Scenes).  For information on memberships or for a schedule of performances, please call our box office at (212) 941-1234. For more information or to get involved, please contact Diane Stiles at (212) 356-8412 or dstiles@allstars.org.

Youth Onstage! (YO!) provides young performers, aged 14 to 21, with the opportunity to create and perform in plays that have something to say about the world and its future.  Since 2003, Youth Onstage! has produced seven productions on 42nd St., as well as six Hip-Hop Cabarets, two installments of Word on the Street: A Poetry Snap, and several world-premiere play readings by young writers.  In addition to producing plays, Youth Onstage! also runs a free theatre training program, the Community Performance School, which offers classes and workshops in acting, voice, movement, playwriting, improvisation, and other skills, taught by a volunteer faculty of theatre professionals.  In the fall of 2007, Youth Onstage! is bringing its hit 2005 show Our City on tour to New York City public schools and other community venues. For more information, or to get involved, please contact Brian Mullin at (212) 356-8452 or bmullin@allstars.org.

The All Stars Talent Show Network (ASTSN) is an after school, performance-based enrichment program for inner-city youth. Each year, thousands of children and young adults, ages 5 to 25, participate in several dozen All Stars events. These include auditions, rehearsals, talent shows and performance workshops that take place in local school auditoriums. The ASTSN involves young people from the poorest neighborhoods of New York City and Newark, NJ. For more information, or to get involved, please contact Jermin Pieters at (212) 356-8447 or jpieters@allstars.org.

Production of Youth by Youth (PYBY), introduces young people to the ways in which culture is produced and encourages them to develop as producers themselves.  Using the city as their campus, students aged 16 to 21 years old go on visits to many of New York’s leading cultural institutions and interface with professional producers in fields like theater, television, music, and the visual arts, while learning the skills necessary to produce their own projects.  Each class produces their own Cultural Forum, which brings together community leaders with professional producers, and all of the students participate in summer internships at a cultural institution. For more information, or to get involved, please contact Dan Friedman at (212) 356-8450 or dfriedman@allstars.org.