The Leeds Arts Council held a musical theatre workshop for two age groups this month to showcase the acting potential in local youths who completed two weeks of rehearsal and two performances of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”June began with elementary school children meeting Monday, June 2, for their first day of the two-week workshop.
Once the elementary children had been working with director Kristen Sharp for a week, it was time for the middle school students and director Rick Partain to begin rehearsals Monday, June 9.
The middle school students would often move their rehearsals across the street from the Leeds Theatre and Arts Center to allow the elementary children time to learn their places on the stage before their two performances Saturday, June 14.
The main elementary cast included Collin Abel as Charlie Brown, Sabrina White as Lucy, Charley Colvin as Sally, Austin Glass as Snoopy, Caleb Denard as Schroeder, Nathan Denard as Linus, Kaitlyn Nickell as Patty, Reagan Everling as Marcie, Sydney St. John as Violet, Jordan Brown and Emma Hughs as Frieda, Brittany George as Eudora, Luke Denard as Rerun and A. J. White as Woodstock.
Joining the main cast in the ensemble for some musical numbers were Alex Nickell, Haley Chambers, Mollie Stone and Taylor Files.
The crew for the show included Sharp; Kimberlee Tate as assistant director; Sandi Nicholson as producer; Lucie Cardwell as music director; Dale Serrano as choreographer; Chandler Abel and Jim Bedsole on lighting and sound; and Anna Bledsole, Misty White, Delane Wright, Laura Hornsby and Alane Isbell helping out backstage.
Once the elementary children had performed, the middle school children had the theater all to themselves the week before their two performances Saturday, June 21.
The cast for the middle school production included Darrien Hess as Charlie Brown, Samantha Arnold as Lucy, Shelby Duke as Sally, Kelci McDowell as Snoopy, David Walker as Schroeder, Trey Spruiell as Linus, Blaise Herman as Marcie, Erin Bodiford as Violet, Meryn Sandlin as Frieda and Molly Phillips as Eudora.
The crew for the show included Partain as both director and part of the lighting and sound crew; Nicholson as producer; Cardwell as musical director; Serrano as choreographer; Glass and Abel, both from the elementary production, on lighting and sound; and Jill McDowell and Kathy Ellis helping backstage.
Not only were both productions a success, the star of the middle school production achieved a personal acting milestone the day before his performance as Charlie Brown.
Hess, 13, attended a camp and was chosen to audition for a youth program with the Red Mountain Theatre Company in Birmingham earlier this year.
“We attended a two-week camp with professors and Broadway actors who had come down to teach,” Hess said. “Class subjects included acting, acting technique, dance and voice. At the end of the camp there was a showcase where we performed pieces from different shows.”
He said he found out Friday, June 20, that he had been accepted into the theatre’s yearlong youth program he had auditioned for, and he was one of only 26 in his age group chosen.
Partain said 325 children attended the camp, and after auditions were complete, 26 children from three age groups were chosen to join the program for a total of 78 participants.
“For the audition, I waited for what felt like forever,” Hess said. “We learned a dance combination with groups of about 10 people. Then we came back in four at a time to perform the dance routine. After we did the dance, we walked out and came back in one at a time to sing and do a monologue.”
Auditions lasted for about five days, and participants were told they would be sent a letter including an application if they were accepted into the program.
“The application came in a thick envelope,” Hess said. “You get five pages front and back you have to fill out.”
The program, formerly known as Summerfest, has been in place since 1993 to give young people opportunities to expand their acting resumes in a way that might not be possible otherwise.
Hess said the yearlong program will involve rehearsing every Sunday, attending Camp Winnetaska for a couple days and learning choreography and music to sing the rest of the year.
Events the youths may participate in will include performing at a gala that is part of the Red Mountain Theatre Company’s concert series and being invited on a trip to Greece with no performance obligations.
Hess is home schooled and spends his spare time participating in Leeds productions.
He has also performed in variety shows and been in a few productions at the Levite Jewish Community Center in Birmingham.
His first show in Leeds was “A Christmas Carol,” but he had assisted with shows behind the scenes long before he took the stage.
“He didn’t want to be on stage at all when he was younger,” Nicholson said with a laugh. “He would help out with lights or the curtains and be on set every day. We finally convinced him to get on the stage and now we can’t get him off.”
