City Theatre brought its groundbreaking outreach program, "Short Cuts for Kids!" to over 300 middle school students at the Key Biscayne Community School on Tuesday, April 24.

City Theatre Producing Artistic Director and former Key Biscayne resident Stephanie Norman stated, "City Theatre is honored to have the Key Biscayne Community Foundation's support to share our company's work with a wider audience. With "Short Cuts for Kids!" we are able to go out directly into the community and off er accessible and entertaining performances at the Key Biscayne Community School's beautiful new auditorium. We thank Dr. Ana Rasco for her gracious hospitality."

"Short Cuts for Kids!" is an abridged version of City Theatre's popular Summer Shorts Festival featuring "short" comedies and dramas by the nation's best established and emerging playwrights.

City Theatre receives over 1,200 scripts annually as part of its partnership with the prestigious Actors Theatre of Louisville for the National Ten-Minute Play Contest. The best of these plays were featured in a program performed by the City Theatre Rep Company of actors.

As an added bonus, appearing as a member of the rep company was Key Biscayne native Alex Fumero. A former student at Key Biscayne Community School, Alex spoke with students about his first acting experience, appearing in a 5th grade school production as part of Ms. Skinner's class.

Alex joined his fellow classmates sharing stories of how each began in the theatre, what life as a working actor is like, and how each prepared for their roles in the performance series.

City Theatre's Managing Director Danielle Karliner led a talk-back between company artists and students, fostering a dialogue about the process of writing a short play and taking a work from page to stage. Each young audience member was furnished with a Study Guide with exercises to help develop their own "short" plays and foster their creative voice.

City Theatre will establish its 2007 summer home at the Studio Theater at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami with the 12th Annual Summer Shorts Festival, scheduled for June 7-July 8, 2007. The Festival then travels north for its annual residency at the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale, from July 12-15, 2007.

This year's line-up of new plays boasts South Florida playwright Marco Ramirez's Heideman Awardwinning play, "I am Not Batman". The Summer Shorts Festival will also feature World Premieres by Key Biscayne resident Susan Westfall, as well as Michael McKeever along with last year's Heideman Award winner, Sarah Hammond.

More information: 305-365-5400 or www.citytheatre.com.