Twenty-Five years of youth theater fun and memories

2/7/2025

“Why can’t we do an all kids show?”

It was a simple question 25 years ago when Martha Heise posed it after watching the emotional experience of kids being turned away from a performance arts program.

Hess's lightbulb moment gave birth towhead is now a very successful program that has become a staple of the Franklin Civic Operetta Association's performing arts Oeuvre.

The Youth Theatre Program and its no-cut philosophy celebrates it's quarter of a century of giving young people something to do, train local theater enthusiasts to be actors and stage crew, create memories that last a lifetime - for the kids and the instructors, and keeps local theater in general thriving in the community.

“It creates of our future,” said Brooke Lawrie, theatre board member and youth theatre alumni. “More of our youth start here. Then they get their confidence and fall in love with theater.”

On Thursday night, about 40 kids were working on just that. After five weeks of rehearsing songs, learning dances, memorizing lines, and working out technical cues, they were putting were putting together the finishing touches of this year’s show.

"A Mixed-Up Musical" pays homage to many of the shows that came before by including many of the characters and a few of the popular songs for shows done at the Barrow over the years.

“I was in your shoes 20 years ago. (now) this is my home and it all started with Miss Martha and her team,” Lawrie told the young performers following their final rehearsal.

The same time that Lawrie did her first all-youth show, Kelly Zerbe joined the production team. For two decades, Zerbe has been teaching dances to the kids, many of whom never danced before they stepped foot on the stage.

A few years later Jess Rodriguez came on board to assist with costumes and the tech crew.

“We can finish each other sentences… when it comes to theater,” Heise said of the production team.

Having a good team is the only way to maintain the no-cut audition format that can bring in a varying amount of kids from year to year.

One year there was enough participants to have an entire deck of cards among the ensemble for “Alice and Wonderland.”

About a decade ago, more than hundred kids signed up to do “Jungle Book.”

“We never saw so many sweat suits,” Heise said about the costumes that year. There were so many animal characters Rodriguez had to bring in teenage volunteers to help paint faces, and it took almost two hours to get it done.

Heisse said it is hard to pick a favorite show from the years, but remembers certain affects they were able to pull off to make a scene really jump out here and there. But she could point out memories of being invited to weddings and graduations by her students. Rodrigues toucher her hand to her heart in agreement.

And she points to Barrow regulars including the theater's lighting and technical designer Jim Amaro as reasons that go beyond just giving the kids positive reenforced memories, but as a means of teaching life skills.

Heisse says there is a good amount of talent out there that just needs harnessing and she and her crew are proud they can help.

Many of the youth theater students take on starring roles in their school productions and also landing major parts in community theaters all over the region.

The Barrow's board told the youngsters that they are future of the theater and thanked them for their hard work.

The show is this Saturday from with a matinee at 2 p.m. and an evening show at 7:30 p.m.