A cast of 42 young actors, dancers and singers have been practicing hard this winter to stage the first Livonia Y “Stars on Stage” production. The group is putting on The Wizard of Oz this week, after rehearsing twice a week despite bad weather and many snow days.
This is a new program in Livonia. Youth and Family Director Joanna Motowski launched it after meeting director Patsy Durbin-Girnys, who has run children’s theater programs for several years and has an MA in Theater for the Young from University of Michigan. Joanna had done theater and dance for years and ran a similar program at a Y in St. Louis before she came to Livonia. Serendipitously, Patsy visited the Y one day to inquire about maybe starting some youth theater classes, and the program was launched. The Y is offering a range of classes in addition to staging the play.
The young actors range in age from 5 to 16. Anyone who auditioned was given a role, and many of the speaking parts were double-cast, with two young people playing each role to give more of them a chance to be in the spotlight.
“Theater gives children an opportunity to build their self-confidence,” Patsy says. It also helps with memory, since they have to find a way to remember their lines, and coordination, as they have to dance or even learn to move like their character would. The experience of being in a theater production also creates a very welcoming environment, Patsy says. Over the course of preparing for a show, children get very close and form friendships with other kids they may not have met otherwise. “Everyone is accepted, and there is no cliquing,” Patsy says. “That’s very important to me that everyone is treated equally.”
Many of the young people in the play have worked with Patsy before in other programs. Lucia Perales, who plays the Lousy Witch and Oz Citizen #1, Courtney Vickers, who is the Scarecrow, and Mary Cote, who is Flying Monkey #1, are all stage veterans at age 10. They all enjoy acting, but for different reasons. Mary says she likes to express herself through acting, while Lucia says “I like fitting into other people’s stories.” Courtney says “It’s fun, being part of another person.”
The curtain goes up 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, April 10 and 11 at Holmes Middle School, 16200 Newburgh Rd. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children; children age 3 and under are free.