Summer Youth Theater

June 17, 2007

By J.J. Harrier

Frontiersman

Let's face it, kids get bored during the summer.

Summer vacation is in its first full month of completion and by this time many kids are climbing the walls, possibly even begging for something to do other than just hang out. But under the watchful eye of parents, the idea of fun quickly seems limited.

With a multitude of Valley sports camps, outdoors and recreational programs and a slew of other athleticly inclined events available this summer, can parents find other options for their often times versatile kids to do this summer?

The Palmer Arts Council came up with an idea two years back to set the wheels in motion for fun, creative and yes, even educational activities for bored and eager kids by starting the Summer Theater Academy for Youth program.

Mission: Get kids involved in three summer theater productions, learning basic acting skills, stage production, working with real professionals and finally, performing their pieces in front of a live audience, possibly fine tuning an early career in the cinematic and theatrical arts.

Last Friday, 15 students from the Theater Academy performed their first play entitled &#8220The Lost Half Hour” at the St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Palmer. Students spent the week learning lines their lines, designing the one-platformed stage, making dramatic costumes and all the hows and whats of making a Broadway hit.

&#8220The kids think it's a blast,” said Annie Benson, local stage actor and director of &#8220The Lost Half Hour.”

&#8220And the parents get a break too, which is always nice. We get the kids all day and then we're done by eight, home by nine. I imagine they walk away with at least learning a little something new about the arts,” Benson said.

As director of the Academy shows for her second year, Benson realizes that the Valley has plenty of opportunities for kids during summer vacation, especially when it comes to athletics, but that the arts tend to be left out of the loop due to poor funding and lack of housing for events like the Academy's plays.

Kevin Brown, Palmer Arts Council's CEO, says the mission of the Council is &#8220to nurture, encourage, sponsor and support the free expression of ideas in our community through the Arts.”

Brown, along with the Council's board of directors, saw the need to provide healthy summer alternative activities for Palmer's kids and decided in 2005 to do something about it. He contacted Benson and began tossing around ideas for summer youth programs in the Valley, asking for funds from the Council to support launching the Theater Academy. They then developed a Fine Arts Academy, where grade school students learn basic art techniques in painting, drawing and pottery and finally the Palmer Youth Band, where kids learn to play instruments and execute musical theory into their craft.

&#8220It seems when kids go on summer vacation, the first week is a week of sheer joy,” Brown said. &#8220Then they get a summer of unrelenting boredom. We're trying to fill in that gap by teaching a skill and encouraging physical activity through our programs.”

Currently, Brown and the Palmer Arts Council are in the works to build an art exhibit center to house all of the unique art mediums in the Valley, equipped with a dance studio, art center and various classrooms for instructions in the arts.

&#8220We envision this will be completed soon, although I can't give you a date yet,” said Brown.

&#8220Still, having productions at a church like this one is nice, it would just benefit the community to have an exclusive forum for the arts. We are growing and so is the Valley art world. The time has come to take advantage of that.”

&#8220The Lost Half Hour” played at St. Bartholomew's to a group of 30 to 40 parents, friends and supporters of the students as well as the art's community. Lasting a little over a half-hour, the play focused on a kind but misguided simpleton named Bobo, who through his own ignorance, and evil encouragement from some ladies in waiting, goes on a search to find their lost half hour and meets some interesting characters along the way. Of course, all plays have a lesson to ponder and this one was no different. Instead of looking for lost time, cherishing each and every second of life makes happiness possible.

Lauren Whitstine, 12, is in her second year at the academy and played both a lady in waiting and a clock in the play.

&#8220I really enjoy acting and I definitely want to be an actress when I'm older,” Whitstine said.

Whitstine attends Palmer Middle School during the school year and enjoys sports as well as the arts year round.

&#8220I'm having a really good time doing this,” she laughed.

Parents of academy students also get involved.

Jason Nesslage is the father of Hannah and Maddie, both attending the summer academy. Nesslage spent the evening filming the play for others to enjoy and said him and his wife Meg, a costume designer, delight in getting involved.

&#8220The kids get experience hopefully to communicate better with others. And of course they have fun and meet new friends each year,” Nesslage said.

The Summer Theater academy next will be gearing up for summer session two, &#8220The Trial of Godilocks,” scheduled to be play on June 29, again at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Palmer. They will then wrap up the summer with &#8220Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories” at the end of July.

Director Annie Benson said that she sees the academy growing each year as more kids find out that acting and the arts can actually be fun to do.

&#8220It's something I always strived for as a kid, I imagine I'm not the only one out there,” Benson joked.

For more information on the Palmer Arts Council and a list of upcoming events, visit: www.palmerartscouncil.org.

Contact J.J. Harrier at 352-2270 or valleylife@frontiersman.com