Acting Your Age

By Burt Wardall | Photography by Mark Frohna

Few things are more inspiring than watching a child’s young talent blossom in the spotlight.

Milwaukee’s First Stage Children’s Theater has been helping kids bloom since 1986.

From September through May, First Stage Children’s Theater performs a series of plays on most week ends at the Marcus Center for Performing Arts. First Stage was founded in 1987 by Rob Goodman, who wanted to give the citizens of Milwaukee an exceptional professional theater experience for both young people and their families to enjoy.

Approaching its 21st anniversary, the theater has become an integral part of the local community.

Today, it is one of the biggest professional children’s theaters in the country, drawing more than 145,000 theatergoers to more than 300 performances a year.

The theater’s season consists of eight plays, each running between three and seven weeks. Six plays are performed in the center’s Todd Wehr Theater. The other two shows, part of the new preschool “First Steps” program, are held at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center’s Main Stage Hall. There is also a traveling company.

Following the success of the theater, the First Stage opened its second branch, the First Stage Theater Academy, in 1992. The academy is a place where children ages three to 18 can hone their acting ability, as well as learn life skills through stage skills.

The academy has proven to be quite popular in the community. Each year it has averaged more than 1,700 students playing on three large stage areas and in 15 rehearsal areas.

The most advanced program in the academy is Young Company. These students, between 15 and 18 years old, receive advanced, pre-professional acting training and work with a variety of guest artists.

Teddy Warren, 15, is a member of Young Company who has been with the theater since he was a child. “I notice that I am much more confident than many of my peers,” he says. “When I started taking summer classes a couple of years ago, I didn’t really like to stand out in a crowd, now I feel comfortable in the spotlight.”

For those students with a quick mind and an ear for laughs, the academy has an improv comedy team known as Organized Chaos, which performs throughout the season.

“The improv allows you to step into someone else’s shoes and act and react like they would,” Warren says. “It teaches you a lot about human nature, and it’s a lot of fun.”

First Stage also features in-school education programs. Each year, the theater spends more than 2,000 hours in schools and classrooms throughout the Milwaukee area. In addition to providing weekday matinees for school groups, the theater establishes specialized curricula to cater to the needs of area schools. For example, if a school needs a program on Earth studies, the theater may perform its “Journey to the Center of the Earth” program.

“Besides the drama, there are a lot of good things about the theater,” Warren says. “This has been a place where I can grow as a person and know that I will be accepted for who I am.”

Above all, the theater prides itself on being part of Milwaukee and its surrounding communities. Its biggest goal is to provide quality productions that will both entertain and educate families, from small children to adults.

Based on the company’s continued commitment to Milwaukee’s children, even after 20 years, there is no doubt kids will continue to blossom in First Stage’s spotlight. ■

MIDWEST AIRLINES offers daily flights to and from Milwaukee. Details can be found at www.midwestairlines.com

NOW SHOWING!

The brand-new 12 DAYS—A MILWAUKEE CHRISTMAS will be premiering from Nov. 23 through Christmas Eve. Written by local author James DeVita, the play tells the true story of Miss Brown, an early 20th-century American teacher who tries to organize the annual Christmas play at her school.

Watch how the unruly students and a Scrooge-like principal prove to be a difficult obstacle for Miss Brown—until she shares a new song she discovered on a previous visit to London, and everything changes.

Which real-life school was this? It was Milwaukee-Downer
College, which later merged with Lawrence University. So, the show provides holiday entertainment as well as a look into Milwaukee history.

For tickets, log on to www.firststage.com, call the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts box office at 414-273-7206 or visit the box office at 929 N. Water St.