Lots of kids grow up reading Beverly Cleary's cleverly-written Ramona Quimby book series about the trouble-prone young girl.
But this summer, Queen Anne fourth-grader Bridget Harvey had the opportunity to not just read the stories but take part in them as well.
Harvey, 9, is one of many aspiring actors and actresses participating in the summer season program at the Seattle Children's Theatre (SCT) Drama School.
Students selected for the program go through an intense, four-week rehearsal period before performing their play on stage in front of sizable audiences.
Harvey is taking part in Ramona Quimby, with other titles in the program including Amazing Voyage, Little Shop of Horrors and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
SCT education director Karen Sharp said picking the particular plays is an important part of the process.
"We look for a number of different things in the selection," Sharp said. "It's got to be an ensemble-based piece. In other words, the focus will be on all the students.
"We want to be able to do it with about 14 students ... most of our plays are done in about an hour."
Harvey said she likes using material from books she has read herself, adding that Ramona Quimby is not based on any one book in particular.
"It's not really Ramona Quimby, Age 8, or Ramona the Pest. It's kind of like a combination of little bits from different books."
Two hundred seventy-seven prospective actors auditioned in April (137 were accepted), and Harvey said she had a slight touch of nerves when she stepped up for her turn.
"I was kind of nervous, and then really excited," she said. "You know that feeling, you get really hot and you get the butterflies in your stomach.
Harvey was nearly "Ramona No. 2," but ended up playing a variety of different characters.
Once the program started mid-summer, the actors were forced to learn their parts quickly under the watchful eye of SCT directors. Harvey said her director, Gillian Jorgensen, was particularly amusing.
"When she's calling on us when we have questions, she says 'Child named Ella," "Child named Bridget,'" Harvey said. "She's really nice and funny."
The age-range of actors in the plays can vary greatly, as evidenced by Ramona Quimby. While Harvey has a couple of elementary school years in front of her, other members of her cast are about to enter high school. But Sharp said that most casts mold together well instead of socially dividing by age.
"I think when you're in a play, you really do build a nice, tight circle," she said. "And certainly in a play like Ramona, we needed people to play parents or grownups, so we needed people to play the younger roles as well."
While everything may go smoothly in rehearsal, the students truly are put to the test when their experience culminates in the first live, on-stage performance. Not surprisingly, Harvey was just a tad bit uneasy when her play debuted July 26.
"At first I was terrified to go out ... I was like, 'What if I wet my pants? Ahh, what's going to happen?'" she said. "And it was really fun."
Harvey's experience is but one way to get involved with the SCT; the drama school also offers classes throughout the summer, and Sharp said the program continues to expand due to interested participants.
"We've got a couple new class titles, more and more classes - 200 this summer - and more students than we've ever had before," she said.
"Quality is absolutely the most important thing, and so we really want to grow responsibly, but it keeps on growing."[[In-content Ad]]
