A few months ago I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Instagram and saw a fun Event for Kids at the Knoxville Children’s Theatre. They were hosting a behind the scenes look at the Theatre and the invite was open to local Kids who were interested in acting, stage design, lighting, costuming, and helping with getting everything ready for upcoming productions. I thought this sounded like a cool opportunity, we were free that day, so we went to check it out!
Back story, in 8th grade my son Gabe started to really show interest in all things Theatre and had a fun role in the West Valley Middle School production of “Once Upon A Mattress”. He went on to Bearden High and enrolled in Freshman Theatre classes and auditioned for Advanced Acting (taught by the fabulous Katie Alley, love her!) and last year in 10th grade he rocked the stage as Poseidon in “The Odyssey”. Looking back now I wish I had known he had this natural talent as I would have enrolled him in acting classes at an earlier age! We have always been supporters of the Theatre and Arts and love going to see shows in Knoxville and abroad, so this was a fun way Gabe could give back and have a chance to see how a complete production happens from reading the script, meeting the Director, drawing out the set design, working within a budget, building and painting the set, and seeing it all come together with the lighting and actors on stage. He started by helping paint the set for “Hairspray, Jr.” and was beyond excited when he got an email that they wanted him to be the set designer for “The Ballad of Robin Hood”. He spent several weekends at the Theatre designing and building it, learning new techniques and working with the awesome staff (JP, Dennis, and Julia thank you for inspiring him!)
One of the things I love about KCT is their productions are done completely by the kids, meaning that they design the set, pick out and plan all the costuming and props for each character, and do all the acting on stage. What a great learning experience for them to work with each other and enjoy a great feeling of accomplishment seeing how all their hard work comes together to create a wonderful production!
The opening night of Robin Hood was so much fun! I loved seeing the awesome stage design Gabe had created and he showed me around sharing how he had made the trees for the forest. The show was very good with a cool cast of middle school and high school kids performing on stage. After the show, we had a chance to meet the Actors upstairs for a reception and all the kids were smiling from ear to ear! These kids really put in 110% and it shows that they love what they do. “The Ballad of Robin Hood” will be playing at the Knoxville Children’s Theatre until September 1st so be sure to go check it out as they have several showtimes each weekend! You can purchase tickets here and check out the upcoming shows and audition schedule. If your child loves anything to do with Theatre I encourage you to contact them and see all the great opportunities KCT has available!
Shelley Lapham-Pastore is a Creative Arts Teacher and the Publisher of Macaroni Kid Knoxville
