See what happens when dance-loving teen Tracy Turnblad auditions for a spot on "The Corny Collins Show" in 1960s Baltimore and tries to bring racial integration to the show as the Phillipsburg Area Summer Youth Theatre stages the hit Broadway musical Hairspray.
The show features 38 actors, including eight Freddy nominees, from nine local high schools (Phillipsburg, Warren Hills, Hackettstown, Belvidere, Easton, Northampton, Notre Dame, Central Catholic, and Saucon Valley). Directors are: Amy Howe - book, Devon Caraballo - choreography, Lauren Smith - music, and Christopher West - stage design.
Formerly the Phillipsburg Summer Youth Theatre, the theatre program was founded in 1996 with three goals: to educate young people about the performing arts, to bring youth and adults together in a collaborative, creative environment, and to provide a fun place to accomplish this. PASYT has now been a summer staple of the community for more than 20 years as its Mainstage productions give youth ages 14-24 the opportunity to perform in some of the great musicals of our time (past productions include 42nd Street, Fiddler on the Roof, and Bye Bye Birdie). In 2000, it expanded its offerings to include the Performing Arts Camp, which allows children ages 6-14 to learn all about the process of putting on a musical, from the first audition to the final curtain call.
The group formally changed its name to Phillipsburg Area Summer Youth Theatre in 2012, to properly reflect how it had grown from a small local organization into a theatre program that draws participants (and audiences) from throughout Warren County and the Lehigh Valley area.