Beckoning Broadway: Summer theater program bringing stars of the stage to the Valley

McALLEN — Down the gray hallway here at the All Star Theatre Studios were posters of its productions — “The Little Mermaid,” “Willy Wonka,” “Frozen” and “Matilda” — leading to a room where laughter could be heard.

Behind those doors stood a Broadway original cast member. Behind those doors were the hopes and dreams of young theater students who learned what it takes to achieve them.

Laura Bell Bundy, the original Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde” on Broadway, was in town Thursday to share her experiences on the biggest and brightest stage in the world.

“To help young people express themselves better and deal with their emotions is sort of my responsibility, because it is something that I have learned how to do,” Bundy said when asked why she decided to speak to Valley theater students. “So, there is that part of it. It’s like my way of giving back from the years of things that I’ve learned, and I just really enjoy helping young artists feel more confident in their art.”

Bundy’s visit was made possible thanks to All Star Theatre’s summer program, which has for years brought stage performers like her to the Rio Grande Valley.

Joel A. Garza, the studio founder and a professor of communications at UTRGV, first introduced the idea of attracting Broadway stars to the area five years ago.

He wanted to create a program that he didn’t have and that would’ve benefited him as a young theater student.

“It must’ve been 2017, I think that was like the year that I started setting goals for myself and I knew one of my big goals was that I wanted to bring in a professional to come and work with individuals in the Valley,” Garza said, adding that the program aims to provide students with a Broadway perspective without having to leave the Valley.

Garza hopes that with the summer camps, the students who choose to pursue a career in theater will be able to form connections with Broadway stars and guide them through the process of becoming a stage actor.

Among the list of professionals who have visited over the course of five years are Clay Thompson, Thayne Japserson, who is an original cast member of Hamilton, as well as Tyler Mount, a three-time Tony Award winner and Olivier Awards winner.

With each visit Garza saw his students gain confidence in their acting skills that extended beyond the limits of the stage.

“You really see the growth. You see it in the students that come and spend their summer week with these individuals, learning and growing from them but then also using that education that they’ve picked up here (studio) and transferring it to the stage and other parts of their life,” Garza said

He likened the experience to a 360-degree look at how a theater actor prepares and performs.

“How they hold themselves, how they warm up, how they work with the people around them, how they are interpersonally connected with the individuals and how they extend their knowledge in different ways,” Garza added about what students learn from the stars of the stage. “It’s one thing to be able to go see these performers perform on Broadway, but it’s quite another to be able to see how they conduct themselves in a room.

“I think that’s the really exciting thing — to be part of that culture and to understand how exactly to navigate that.”

According to Garza, a majority of the students who attend the summer camps are students who attend the year-long classes.

However, it is those students who take it upon themselves to pass on what they’ve learned to their fellow classmates.

“The Valley is so full of talent and we want them to be able to hone in on that in a constructive way, and that’s what we’re hoping to do through programs like this,” Garza said.

Bunday’s greatest piece of advice, according to Garza, was for each student to be their own advocate.

Those words resonated with him and believes students walked away from the meeting with Bundy a little wiser.

“On Broadway, there is always that culture of the ‘show must go on’ and the show will always go on, but that doesn’t mean it has to be done (to) your detriment, and that is one of the things that she really pressed on the students,” Garza said.

For 16-year-old Kate Wilson, who has attended All Star Theatre Studios for four years, speaking with actors such as Bundy has helped her confidence.

As she heard stories told from Bundy’s perspective it helped her relate her experiences to that of a professional.

“It’s very nice to see a Broadway actor be vulnerable with us and it feels easier to relate to them,” Wilson said, adding that her biggest takeaway from Bundy’s lesson is to separate one’s emotions from the emotion of the character.

Adien Kaiser, 12, a fellow theater student who has attended All Star since he was 5-years-old, and who has also performed in a local production of “The Lion King,” learned how to connect the acting to the music.

He said it’s a matter of relating.

“It teaches us to bring character to our songs but also she has taught us to find relationships between us and our songs,” Kaiser said of Bundy’s advice.

Bundy, who started acting when she was 9 in New York, said being in McAllen on Thursday was an opportunity to pass down her knowledge from the Broadway world.

As she watched the students practice and apply her advice to their acting, it reminded Bundy of her childhood growing up in Kentucky and attending the Townvillage School of Dance, where she learned to be confident in her performance.

“I think the greatest thing to see when you’re teaching is the lights going on when they understand what you’re saying and then they apply it,” Bundy said. “That is always my favorite part.”