SJM_PROFILE_Ritz Theatre_0724_profile 7 / 25 / 24 2 : 11 PM Page 2 PROMOTION B U S I N E S S S P O T L I G H T apartof the South Jersey community through local events and performing at schools . The Ritz also supports the community by helping youth discover the performing arts . By participating in theater onstage , backstage , or from an audience perspective , children can find solidarity in the stories told before them and gain vital knowledge and literacy skills . Through finding a community of diverse young artists with a shared passion for the arts , youth actors gain confidence and social - ization that they may not find elsewhere . “ The arts are a very valuable part and should be a valuable part of everyone's background . The backbone of our pro - gramming is encouragement and empow - erment . It's building confidence and life skills that can carry over into any profession , ” affirms Curless . Ritz Theatre Company’s impact upon children began with Ritzy the Wolfin its first Taking Center Stage year , and now its children’s theater has a wide range of productions of its own and educa - Throughbringing stories to life onstage , The Ritz Theatre tional opportunities like classes and camps . “ Ritz Kidz is a company of adult actors Company createsimmersiveexperiences with much to whoperform fairy tales and fables for children look forward to in its upcoming season . b y CARLY MURRAY aged preschool through third grade , and they are designed to be a child's first foray into the wonderful world of theater . They get up he historic Ritz Theatre building has been a host of the local arts since its beginning in on stage and play supporting roles . Even if 1927 , where it opened as a vaudeville movie house . In 1986 , Bruce A . Curless founded Ritz they're not on stage , they participate from the TheatreCompany as a multifaceted performing arts collective that caters to all ages of per - audience , ” says Repici , who started his career formersand audiences , and all genres of plays and musicals . That first season marked the T at the theater as a Ritz Kidz troupe member debutof the children’s series , The Adventures of Ritzy The Wolf , which was conceptualized within and helped launch the Stage Starz program . the company and won two Emmy awards . Ritz Stage Starz is part of a Youth Theater “ Wewere a group of actors who loved working together . We were looking for a place to per - Initiative with productions “ by kids and for form , and we found this theater , which is absolutely magical . It now is on the historic registry — kids . ” The productions are selected to excite boththe state and national registry — and it's a space that is very inspiring to me . I think to most young performers and embody material for people who walk in here , it's not a common black box theater … it's like a music box of a the - which they can relate . Next month , Ritz Stage ater , and it just seems to spark creativity in so many of us , ” says Curless , who also serves as the Starz is set to premiere Bye Bye Birdie : Youth producingartistic director . Editionand Mean Girls : High School Version . Ritz Theatre Company has valued equal - opportunity casting and diversity since the The Ritz Theatre Company has many beginning , and that guiding principle has never faltered . Through their work with the ADA , the exciting opportunities right around the theaterprovides accessibility to its actors and audiences . Beginning in 1990 with an ASL - inter - corner . As a pillar of the community , their pretedperformance of Children of a Lesser God , The Ritz’s commitment to this initiative con - work has a reputation of celebrating diver - tinues today with newly acquired open captioning machines and assisted listening devices . sity and providing inspiration . That legacy will The upcoming mainstage season runs the full gamut of exhibiting the inherent nature of persist well into the future , as anyone who theaterto touch the hearts and minds of audiences , causing them to leave with a new perspective n witnessestheir work can attest . on life . It begins with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar in September , followed by the gothic play Dracula , perfectly timed for Halloween . Also harmonious with the season , Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderellapremieres right before Christmas . 2025 will start with Tony Kushner’s multiple award - winning play Angels in America , which provides social introspection upon national events in the ‘ 80s that parallel the modern climate . ore As it is traditionally separated into two parts , Part 1 : Millennium Mo y Approacheswillopenin January and Part 2 : Perestroika will pick char up in June . In between , the company will perform the modern Za y : musical KinkyBoots in February , William Shakespeare’s timeless play Julius Caesar in March , rtes andthe musical comedy Sister Actin May . The finale of this riveting season will be The uWizard The Ritz Theatre CoCompany of Ozin July . to HaddonTownship ho WhenSouthJersey Magazinespoke with Curless and Director of Communications and PEdu - g ( 856 ) 288 - 3500 in cationRobertRepici , Ritz Theatre Company was preparing for the opening night of West Side OpenStory RitzTheatreCo.org toconclude its 2023 - 2024 season . In culmination with numerous productions , they strive to be SOUTH JERSEY MAGAZINE volume 21 issue 4 SouthJerseyMagazine.com | 39