With a sold out three-night run, The Brownsville Repertory Theater in partnership with Saint Joseph Academy kicked off its Summer Repertory Program where dozens of community members attended a recent event to see the children perform.
Chris Ikner, artistic director, said the partnership has been very successful because they have been able to work with a lot of new young faces who are starting their careers in theater and arts at a young age.
Last weekend, they premiered “Moana Jr.” where children ages 9 to 11 participated in the sold-out events and are now accepting applications for the new upcoming shown “Les Misérables” for ages 12 to 18. The Summer Camp for Lés Misérables will last three weeks and will start on July 12.
“As part of our mission with the Repertory Theater, we have three major components that we like to stress: performance, education and awareness. That awareness comes from letting the community of all ages know that this opportunity is there for them to have,” Ikner said.
“The exciting thing about Les Misérables is that it is such an exciting opportunity not just for young actors, but for great musicians. To kind of stretch their abilities and maybe young artists who are interested in choir, singers; feel free to come out because I think it provides you with an opportunity to kind of be involved musically.”
Ikner said the response from the community to support the shows has been overwhelming with a lot of them going to every opening just to support the arts and go back to theater after the one-year hiatus caused by the pandemic.
“To see people come to see theater and see art just for the sake of seeing art, is what gets me so excited,” he said.
“We actually had some patrons that just wanted to come back. They didn’t care what the show was, they just wanted to see something awesome. And I think I would like to see more of that. More people excited about what’s going on, enlightening themselves, seeing new things and learning new things.”
Zachary Stutts, managing director, said the best part of the first summer camp “Moana Jr.” was being able to teach young chidren how to perform and seeing new faces that were looking to do something truly meaningful for them, whether it was the music component, the dance component or the acting component.
“The biggest takeaway is that the parents were able to see from it. They weren’t just simply playing, they were actually working as a group, they were working on skills that really are applicable to a lot of different areas beyond to what they were just doing on stage,” he said.
For “Les Misérables” Stutts said they are looking to make this a very immersive and epic experience, not only for the participants but for the patrons as well. He said the play will not be performed in a manner that everyone expects it to be but with a 21st century spin to this classic novel, which was published in 1862.
“We have an insane amount of talent that’s here, and I think that for us, it’s a way to showcase the amazing cross section of talent that exists that people don’t get to appreciate and celebrate as often,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity to get out of the house and support your neighbor, specifically your young artists who are committing so much of themselves to such a necessary art form.”
Golbanoo Setayesh, guest educator and co-director for Moana, said it was really refreshing to remind herself why she loves this field so much by seeing kids falling in love with theater the way that she did when she was their age.
“I think that a lot of support can go to art programs like the Brownsville Repertory Theater where they have opportunities to elementary, middle, and high school to get an arts education where they can be ready,” she said.
For more information about the Repertory Theater, email Zachary Stutts at [email protected]
