Ever wish you could pop in a time machine and be plopped down in the middle of a bunch of screaming girls to watch the mop-headed Beatles sing at the Ed Sullivan Show? Or be-bop and splash splash in a colorful world we usually only see in old black and white tv clips and the only king that really mattered was Elvis?
How about breaking out the old lingo to talk about with your grandkids who might not realize that you once were once "lit" or "cool" or "dope" or "groovy?"
They might think that is "sick."
Well the Barrow-Civic Theatre this week is just the place for fly hipsters getting down to some keen tunes of yesterdalio. And it is far out man.
How about breaking out the old lingo to talk about with your grandkids who might not realize that you once were once "lit" or "cool" or "dope" or "groovy?"
They might think that is "sick."
Well the Barrow-Civic Theatre this week is just the place for fly hipsters getting down to some keen tunes of yesterdalio. And it is far out man.
The annual youth theater summer program is in currently at full speed while the one week day campers get themselves ready to perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night a little 45-minute or so musical called "Jukebox Time Machine" in front of a live audience.
"It is chaotic," admitted Jess Rodriguez who laughed about a quote in the morning newspaper. But the organizers will tell you there is a method in the madness and though it may not always feel that way, it is an organized chaos.
Starting on Sunday a cast of 60 kids begin memorizing their lines, their dances, all the songs in order to put on a full show in front of a typical sold out house five days later. And there are an additional 15 young people learning lights, sound, getting and creating props and designing an entire set.
To compare - most musicals with seasoned adult crews and cast take five to six weeks to pull off.
"It is chaotic," admitted Jess Rodriguez who laughed about a quote in the morning newspaper. But the organizers will tell you there is a method in the madness and though it may not always feel that way, it is an organized chaos.
Starting on Sunday a cast of 60 kids begin memorizing their lines, their dances, all the songs in order to put on a full show in front of a typical sold out house five days later. And there are an additional 15 young people learning lights, sound, getting and creating props and designing an entire set.
To compare - most musicals with seasoned adult crews and cast take five to six weeks to pull off.
The program's director Martha Heise noticed something over twenty years ago when an outside group was being paid a few thousand dollars to come in and put on shows casting local youth. She said that program would leave kids out sometimes just based on whether or not they fit into the costumes. She would have none of that.
“I was watching kids leave in tears,” she said. “Why are we paying them $4,000?” Heise has been directing the Barrow-Civic Operetta Association’s Youth Theater for 22 years now and 17 have included this intensive one-week summer day camp. “I just wanted to to have an educational program for as many of these kids as I could,” she said. The program had as many as 125 kids in the past, but more recently had to be reduced due to planning around the uncertainty COVID-19 restrictions. This year there are 75 cast and crew members.
The camp even draws kids from outside the immediate area.
“I was watching kids leave in tears,” she said. “Why are we paying them $4,000?” Heise has been directing the Barrow-Civic Operetta Association’s Youth Theater for 22 years now and 17 have included this intensive one-week summer day camp. “I just wanted to to have an educational program for as many of these kids as I could,” she said. The program had as many as 125 kids in the past, but more recently had to be reduced due to planning around the uncertainty COVID-19 restrictions. This year there are 75 cast and crew members.
The camp even draws kids from outside the immediate area.
Heise, along with long-time collaborators Rodriguez, Kelly Zerbe and Angie Carothers, give their campers the full experience of being in theater. They even have many other past member come back to volunteer. They beam with pride then they talk about former youth theater members who came up through the ranks and currently work in the field. Each year's camp is different and the kids learn different things about theater, themselves and even life lessons.
This year’s cast gets to not only learn important lessons about what it takes to be in a production, but they are learning music from many decades of the past. “Time Machine Jukebox” is a songfest including tunes from “Splash Splash” to “Breakaway.”
They even get to learn some of the slang of the times. “Far out” and being 'hip to that jive” may not be things these kids have heard before other than something grandma said to grandpa while they were reminiscing, but now they get to not only learn what they mean, based on Tuesday’s rehearsal, they be able to say them just like grandma too.
This year’s cast gets to not only learn important lessons about what it takes to be in a production, but they are learning music from many decades of the past. “Time Machine Jukebox” is a songfest including tunes from “Splash Splash” to “Breakaway.”
They even get to learn some of the slang of the times. “Far out” and being 'hip to that jive” may not be things these kids have heard before other than something grandma said to grandpa while they were reminiscing, but now they get to not only learn what they mean, based on Tuesday’s rehearsal, they be able to say them just like grandma too.
And in-between all the slang phrases of the past, they get to sing songs that might get great-grandma screaming "yeah, yeah, yeah" and grandpa hopeful for the future as listens to his grandkids singing "Don't Stop Believing."
Heck mom might even get up and show how to "Vogue" old-school.
To see the show and support this year’s cast and crew just bring $12 to the Barrow on Thursday for a ticket and get prepared for a trip down memory lane. Or better yet order your tickets in advance online at barrowtheatre.org/
Heck mom might even get up and show how to "Vogue" old-school.
To see the show and support this year’s cast and crew just bring $12 to the Barrow on Thursday for a ticket and get prepared for a trip down memory lane. Or better yet order your tickets in advance online at barrowtheatre.org/
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