Silly Old Bear
Friday, June 26, 2009
The Young Thespian Players will move from a tiny venue to a professional setting for the first time next month, when they present “Winnie-the-Pooh” at The Granada Theatre.
The troupe is accustomed to performing before small audiences at the Black Box Theatre at the Emporia Arts Council.
At the Granada, they’ll have an expansive stage, better acoustics, and seating for up to 800 people. It will be a drastic change, and one that the actors and their mentors have been anticipating since the theater’s renovations began.
Sisters Susie LeGault and Penni Hansen organized YTP about five years ago. Besides wanting to share their lifelong interest in the theater and all that it offers, the pair also knew that the experiences would give the youngsters confidence and independence they could apply in their adult lives.
Hansen is director for the upcoming play, and LeGault is stage manager.
Both women have experience directing, acting, making sets and whatever else is needed, and it’s something they want to share with their youthful actors, who range from 8 to 17 years of age.
Drew Surmeier, who plays Winnie-the-Pooh, has appeared in every production since the Young Thespians were formed more than five years ago. Taylor Mayers and Logan Herrera also have been with YTP since its beginning, though they have not appeared in every show.
“About 95 percent of the kids we have keep returning,” LeGault said.
LeGault said that the turnout was better than anticipated for auditions held earlier, and simultaneously, for Winnie and for the upcoming “Hansel and Gretel” production.
“Really, I was so pleased,” she said. “I think we had a total of 13 or 14 new Young Thespian Players. I’ve got some really talented singers. It was the best reading audition we’ve ever had.”
Some of the actors have roles in both plays, and rehearsals for Hansel and Gretel will begin after a week’s hiatus following “Winnie-the-Pooh.”
The cast for the latter show has been rehearsing during the evenings on Mondays through Fridays and also on Saturdays for weeks.
“It really is an incredible commitment,” LeGault said. “But they don’t want to be anywhere else. It’s been amazing.”
And LeGault gave credit to the commitment of the parents, who have brought the youngsters to the arts council for rehearsals day after day.
The cast will go to the Granada for a walk-through, to get a feel for the spaciousness of the theater and to get an idea of how the staging will be adapted.
Rehearsals will be moved to the Granada next week.
In preparation for the change, cast members memorized their lines early so they could focus on that aspect of the production before they have access to the larger stage. LeGault said they wanted the youngsters to be comfortable and solid in their roles, so they could concentrate on adjusting to the Granada.
For this production, they will have a professionally built set and costumes.
Rich Tyler, director of theater at McPherson College, has commuted between Emporia and McPherson this summer to build sets for the production.
Tyler and LeGault were in theater together as students at Emporia State University.
“I hadn’t seen him since 1981 and I just called and said, ‘Hey, here’s your old friend,’” LeGault said, describing her technique for enlisting help. “... He was thrilled.”
YTP is paying Emporia High School theater students to help build and paint the set. The money earned will be used to defray expenses for that group’s upcoming trip to New York.
“And a lot of them are Young Thespian Players as well,” LeGault said.
Money to pay the students — and more — came from donations from the Hopkins Foundation, the Emporia Community Foundation and the St. Patrick’s Day Committee.
The funds also enabled YTP to rent professional costumes, buy advertising, and print promotional postcards that will be handed out at the Fourth of July celebration.
“We’re doing every thing we can to put the word out,” LeGault said. “It’s something you can bring your family to.”
The production will have an intermission after the first 30 minutes, to allow youngsters to stretch their legs and chat; the second act will be approximately 40 minutes long.
LeGault and Hansen are hoping that area residents will take time to come to the performances to see what the YTP have managed to accomplish, as well as to watch them in the professional setting they’ve waited so long to try out.
“It’s exciting to see,” LeGault said. “They’ve worked so hard. They’re about to find out what it’s like to be in a real theater.”
•••
On with the show
WHEN: 7:30 P.M. JULY 16 AND 17
WHERE: Granada Theatre
COST: $10 adults, $5 children
TICKETS: available at The Emporia Arts Council, 618 Mechanic St.; the Sweet Granada, 905 Commercial St.; the Granada Coffee Co., 809 Commercial St.; and Town Crier bookstore, 716 Commercial St.
CAST: Drew Surmeier, Winnie-the-Pooh; Cameron Crouch, Piglet; Robert Crone, Rabbit; Tagan Trahoon, Eeyore; Ashley Sherwood, Owl; Austin Leiss, Christopher Robin; Taylor Mayers, Kanga; Samuel Deere, Roo; Sophie Watkins, Cailin O’Mara, Andrew Mayers and Ashley DeBauge, Animals; Logan Herrera, The Voice.
EXTRA: The show is produced through special arrangement with the Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Ill.
madpoet (anonymous) says...
That sounds neat! I wish it were a little earlier in the evening but I'm sure I can get my kid to stay awake that long.
June 26, 2009 at 3:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )