2015-16 Annual Report
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LEARN<br />
RYAN STRACK, STUDENT & ACTOR<br />
AAHANA BHATT, PLAY ME A STORY<br />
“Being onstage with<br />
professional adult<br />
actors really helps<br />
you become better by<br />
learning from them.”<br />
How did you became involved with<br />
Portland Stage?<br />
I first became involved with<br />
Portland Stage after I moved to<br />
Maine, and was interested in<br />
working on my acting. I was 9 at<br />
the time. We found the Portland<br />
Stage camps and tried them, and I<br />
liked them. I did more camps and<br />
also participated in a production<br />
of A Christmas Carol. I have<br />
also been in the Middle School<br />
Shakespeare Conservatory.<br />
How has Portland Stage made an<br />
impact on your life?<br />
Portland Stage really had an<br />
impact on my life when I joined A Christmas Carol, because<br />
I had no idea what was going to happen but I had a great<br />
time and made new friends. It also really helped with my<br />
acting because being onstage with professional adult actors<br />
really helps you become better by learning from them.<br />
Give us three words to describe Portland Stage!<br />
Fun, social, learning.<br />
What do you do when you aren’t at Portland Stage?<br />
I read a lot, I play soccer and other sports, I play with my<br />
cats, and I play video games.<br />
“We drive from<br />
Augusta to make<br />
sure we expose our<br />
daughter to the<br />
theater world through<br />
Portland Stage.”<br />
How did you became involved with<br />
Portland Stage?<br />
My husband and I always wanted<br />
our daughter Aahana to get<br />
involved with acting or some other<br />
aspect of the stage. We found<br />
online that Portland Stage provides<br />
a program for young kids to start<br />
acting in the early stages of life.<br />
This motivated us and we made a<br />
commitment to drive from Augusta<br />
to Portland and make sure that we<br />
expose our daughter to the theater<br />
world through Portland Stage.<br />
How has Portland Stage made an<br />
impact on your life?<br />
During the early days, Aahana took some time to get<br />
comfortable with the environment and the teachers. After<br />
a short time, we found that she started mimicking actors<br />
while watching TV. When months passed, we also found<br />
that even while talking with us she started using those facial<br />
expressions, enthusiasm, and excitement. We could see that<br />
in her personal life Aahana was able to express her feelings<br />
and communicate better.<br />
Give us three words to describe Portland Stage!<br />
Awesome. Friendly. Nurturing.<br />
What do you do when you aren’t at Portland Stage?<br />
Ice skating, dancing, singing, swimming, cooking with Dad,<br />
creating art and painting, or simply family fun.
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