St. Thomas Playhouse has been busy staging, creating, singing, dancing and performing with its Company B Performing Arts Day Camp and its Summer Theater Project. Company B will perform “Seussical, the Musical Jr.” at the Community School Theatre in Sun Valley from Thursday, June 23 though Saturday, June 25 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for children and $10 for adults and are available at the door.
Children and youth from 4-13 have participated in all aspects of producing a musical. The campers auditioned and were assigned roles in the musical. For two weeks, the youngsters were instructed in the fundamentals of theater. They learned and rehearsed their lines, songs, dances and staging and helped with their costumes.
“Everyone has a place,” said co-director Kristy Kuntz. “A person is a person no matter how small they are. This is the central message incorporated throughout the entire camp.”
Co-director Kevin Wade said the children worked hard on technique this year. Co-choreographer Peter Burke and Wade agreed that the performances will be so moving that everyone should bring tissues.
 Cast members of “Footloose the Musical” are ready to cut footloose at the Community School Theatre in Sun Valley, June 22-25. Photo by Heather Black
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The St. Thomas Playhouse Summer Theater Project also has been hard at work to present “Footloose the Musical” at the Community School Theatre in Sun Valley Wednesday, June 22, through Saturday, June 25. Tickets are $5 for children, $10, youth and $20, adults and will be available at the door at 7 p.m. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m.
The Summer Theater Project is a program for high school teens and young adults. The show’s director, Freddie Harris, says the program is a welcome sign of summer theater, as well as a one-of-a-kind theater production with lots of laughs and a whole lot of heart.
The show features Grammy- and Oscar-nominated songs from movies in the mid-eighties such as “Footloose,” “Let’s Hear It For The Boys,” and “Almost Paradise,” written by the likes of Kenny Loggins, Sammy Hagar and other notables. The story line revolves around a high school teenager, Ren, who moves from the city to a small town that does not allow dancing. Through trials and tribulations, Ren finally convinces the repressed townspeople and their controlling reverend that dancing and singing bring joy and redemption.
The young adults who are part of the production are involved with every aspect of producing a show, as well as acting, singing and dancing. The Community School Theatre set designed by Jamey Reynolds lends itself to large cast scenes for dancing and singing, which will impress all audiences who come to see the show. Musical direction is by Alyssa Hershey and choreography is by Peter Burke and Sara Gorby.
Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com
