Tollbooth.
The current wonderful production by the WCCT children’s workshop, is the Phantom Tollbooth”. Performed entirely by young people between the ages of 7 and 17, this little production is quite charming. While it is the culmination of 1 month of hard work by children and parents alike, the show is not the whole story. The children learn a little bit about the workings of live stage productions (Yes, things go wrong… more on that later) both on and off stage. They get to work at finding some of their own props, costumes. They help build (sometimes) and paint the set. Most of the kids I talked to think it is a great experience and many come out year after year.
They find out, year after year, that sometimes people forget their lines, and someone else needs to do something to help out (Good life advice there too). They find out that sometimes the props they need aren’t there, and they have to improvise something (sometimes this works, other times it doesn’t–sounds like real life again doesn’t it?). The find that sometimes things break, and you have to get along without it for a while (More life lessons..). It looks like in a one month period of time, they learn a lot about the theater, and even more about life. Most of them don’t realize they are learning anything but their lines. Good for them and their futures.
I should have written this sooner, so some of the background readers would have had a chance to see this show. Tomorrow is the last show, and I’m not sure how many seats are left.
I wouldn’t be a father if I didn’t say the best Humbug I ever saw was the one portrayed by my youngest. Not so young anymore, this is her final Childrens’ theater workshop. Now she will have to earn her roles if she decides to stay active in Community Theater.
Humbug! 😀
It was an entertaining show. A couple of line problems, but they will learn how to handle those situations as they get more experience. I don’t recall your Milo missing any lines, and he had a ton of them as the lead. What he needs to work on though is character. While Milo is supposed to be a bored kid, he seemed more boring… But again, memorization in his case really took top priority and as he gets more experience he will get more character.
Can someone tell me when the 2009 childrens workshop will be held? I seem to miss it every year.
Laura
The 2009 childrens’ workshop should start sometime in late June/early July. If I get exact dates, I’ll post them. Keep checking http://www.mywcct.com, that is the theater web site and it should post the dates when they become available.