Staged lesson

During Valley Performing Arts' most recent production, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," many of the actors were young -- some even in high school. Now, VPA is getting even younger, but the audience won't notice.

A team of seventh-graders from Colony Middle School helped set the stage for the upcoming production of "Private Lives," which opens Feb. 22 at Machetanz Theatre.

The students are part of Connie Lutz' art class at CMS, and they stopped by Machetanz Theatre Monday for a full day of painting, sewing, upholstering and construction.

This marks the first time students have helped design the set for a regular VPA production. In the past, students have worked on some of Valley Performing Arts' children's theater productions, and students have helped out with smaller projects.

On Monday, working with stage designer David Putnam, the students transformed the stage with their artistic talent.

With more than 25 students divided into separate teams, working together was important.

"What I like about doing these types of projects is that it really facilitates teamwork," Lutz said. "That, and the students get to see how the skills they learned in art class apply to the real world. It's something they can look at and know they had a hand in a community project."

Working with the community is nothing new for Lutz, and her students.

"Every year, we have a project where we go to the community or the community comes to us for a project," Lutz said. "Some of my classes have done the Wasilla Wonderland and the Palmer A-Moose-ment playground."

After Putnam visited the class, students worked for two weeks on different aspects of the set -- from reupholstering furniture to making a beach out of sand.

Putnam already had most of the set constructed, but everything from floor to ceiling had to be painted, and details had to be added to every piece of the set -- from stamping paint "stones" into the floor, to texturing a bridge.

Not every student got to go the theater on Monday, however.

"We were picked based on how hard we worked," said seventh-grader Craig Beairsto, whose project was to paint a large column. "If you worked the hardest in class, you got to come."

Many of the students plan to attend a showing of "Private Lives," Lutz said, and she hopes that through projects like this one, students will see new opportunities.

"This gives them a look at the technical end of theater, so if they come and watch it [the production], they get to see both ends of theater, and they may find they like it," Lutz said.