On one of the few sunny spring afternoons in Seattle of late, children from all over Queen Anne and Magnolia have come to Pilgrim Hall in the United Church of Christ with the curtains closed and lights dimmed.
The Magnolia Theater School of Drama produces dramas and musicals and holds workshops in music, drama and dance to promote the cultural enrichment of our community. The nonprofit is designed for performers 5-years-old and up. After five years and numerous performances, including Aladdin, Cinderella, Charlotte's Web, Annie, Oklahoma! Mulan and The Wind in the Willows, the school will stage Beauty and the Beast.
Putting on each of these performances has truly been a community effort, where neighbors have made costumes, local students have auditioned and parents and friends help in various ways. Jeannie O'Meara-Polich dreamed of starting a theater her whole life. She has master of fine arts in directing from the University of Minnesota and has professional training in flute, voice, conducting and piano. She has been teaching music and drama all ages of students for 25 years.
She uses the Broadway Junior Collection for most of the theater's plays. Broadway Junior adapts classic and contemporary musicals into 70-minute editions edited for middle-school aged performers. Volunteer Kitrina Carter made most of the costumes including Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Madame de la Grande Bouche.
Most of the actors in this production of Beauty and the Beast are in middle school at local schools such as Catharine Blaine K-8, Seattle Country Day School, St. Anne's and Our Lady of Fatima. Many of them have been acting since before the theater even opened.
Haley Budigan, an eighth grader from St. Joe's plays Mrs. Potts. She has been acting for 12 years. She went to the Seattle Children's Theatre Drama School for preschool. Ryan Gross, who plays The Beast, has been acting "for a long time," and has been in some commercials. He plays three instruments and wants to be a performing musician when he grows up.
Most of the children participate in numerous after-school activities in addition to theater. When asked if it is difficult to do it all, Mia Portuese, who plays Belle, said, "you need to balance it out but a lot of the time it can get a little frustrating." Portuese juggles volleyball, soccer, track and acting. She has dreams of one day being on Broadway. Others in the cast have similar hopes of making it big as an actor, and the theater program has been a big support system for those dreams.
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