About Us
About Us
A message from the Director:
I am pleased to welcome you to the Web “home” of the New Star Children’s
Theatre. My name is Dana Hendry and I am the Director of New Star. I have
been directing children’s theatre for thirty years now, having started directing
in 1978, in a little town called Trenton, Ontario, in Canada, when I was only
A message from the Director:
I am pleased to welcome you to the Web “home” of the New Star Children’s
Theatre. My name is Dana Hendry and I am the Director of New Star. I have
been directing children’s theatre for thirty years now, having started directing
in 1978, in a little town called Trenton, Ontario, in Canada, when I was only
New Star Children's Theatre
About Us
About Us
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16 years of age. I have been directing children’s theatre for thirty years now, having started directing in 1978, in
a little town called Trenton, Ontario, in Canada, when I was only 16 years of age. I had written a children’s
musical and held auditions, and ended up with the whole town backing me up, providing me with rehearsal
space at the local rotary club, a way to record my own music at the local radio station, and a place to perform at
the local high school. My show received rave reviews in the local paper and New Star was born! With the help of
my mom, and later my sisters, New Star moved to Hamilton, Ontario and later to Ottawa Ontario, where it
continues to this day under the direction of my youngest sister, Melanie and my mother, Carole-Ann. I moved to
California in 2001, to marry my wonderful husband, Bob, and started New Star California by 2002 in the
Brentwood/Antioch area. I went on to direct 13 successful productions, over 3 years, with several hundred
children ages 4-17, including writing and directing 4 original musicals!
Now, I am re-located to the beautiful Folsom area and have recently directed several productions here including
“Snow White” with 24 local children ages 4-12 in January 2007, “Little Red and Goldilocks: Once Upon A Mixed Up
Fairytale” with 16 local children ages 4-13 in March 2007 and “Annie Jr” starring 45 talented local children and
youth ages 4-18, in May 2007. All of our “Annie Jr” performances were sold out and played to rave reviews! Most
recently I directed the debut performance of the new musical 'The Totally True Story of Cinderella and the Prince.
Each cast and production has been a wonderful experience and I am seeing my program grow by leaps and
bounds in a very short time! I have enjoyed every moment of working with all of these enthusiastic and talented
children!
Upcoming auditions can be found on the home page of this website.
When you come to see a “New Star” show, I want you to see on the stage in front of you, not only the extremely
talented young lady who is playing “Snow White” or “Cinderella” at that performance, but also take note of the
little 5 year old, who is in their very first production, and is so proud to be able to say their lines up on that
stage. I want you to see the varying levels of experience from “debuts” to “seasoned actors”. My expectation
for my cast, for each and every child/young person on that stage is that they each achieve their personal best.
Each person is at their own level of talent and experience and each person is special for their own reasons. That
is the philosophy that I work under in running New Star. This is not a theatre company for “Stars” but one that
makes EVERY performer a STAR for their performances.
I hope you will enjoy our performances and come back to more in the future!
a little town called Trenton, Ontario, in Canada, when I was only 16 years of age. I had written a children’s
musical and held auditions, and ended up with the whole town backing me up, providing me with rehearsal
space at the local rotary club, a way to record my own music at the local radio station, and a place to perform at
the local high school. My show received rave reviews in the local paper and New Star was born! With the help of
my mom, and later my sisters, New Star moved to Hamilton, Ontario and later to Ottawa Ontario, where it
continues to this day under the direction of my youngest sister, Melanie and my mother, Carole-Ann. I moved to
California in 2001, to marry my wonderful husband, Bob, and started New Star California by 2002 in the
Brentwood/Antioch area. I went on to direct 13 successful productions, over 3 years, with several hundred
children ages 4-17, including writing and directing 4 original musicals!
Now, I am re-located to the beautiful Folsom area and have recently directed several productions here including
“Snow White” with 24 local children ages 4-12 in January 2007, “Little Red and Goldilocks: Once Upon A Mixed Up
Fairytale” with 16 local children ages 4-13 in March 2007 and “Annie Jr” starring 45 talented local children and
youth ages 4-18, in May 2007. All of our “Annie Jr” performances were sold out and played to rave reviews! Most
recently I directed the debut performance of the new musical 'The Totally True Story of Cinderella and the Prince.
Each cast and production has been a wonderful experience and I am seeing my program grow by leaps and
bounds in a very short time! I have enjoyed every moment of working with all of these enthusiastic and talented
children!
Upcoming auditions can be found on the home page of this website.
When you come to see a “New Star” show, I want you to see on the stage in front of you, not only the extremely
talented young lady who is playing “Snow White” or “Cinderella” at that performance, but also take note of the
little 5 year old, who is in their very first production, and is so proud to be able to say their lines up on that
stage. I want you to see the varying levels of experience from “debuts” to “seasoned actors”. My expectation
for my cast, for each and every child/young person on that stage is that they each achieve their personal best.
Each person is at their own level of talent and experience and each person is special for their own reasons. That
is the philosophy that I work under in running New Star. This is not a theatre company for “Stars” but one that
makes EVERY performer a STAR for their performances.
I hope you will enjoy our performances and come back to more in the future!