Young cast members perform in the Our Town Players production of “The Many Disguises of Robin Hood ” in 2018. Our Town Players, a community theater troupe based in Franklin, is hosting an acting and musical theater workshop for kids age 7 to 17 on Feb. 24.
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For nearly 30 years, Our Town Players has been showcasing some of the area’s best stage talent in its live performances.
Actors of all ages have tackled drama, comedy, musicals and more in engaging productions. Many of those shows have been kid-centric starring young performers showing off their stuff.
Fostering the love of theater in children is a joy for Our Town Players, those involved with the troupe say. Now, one member hopes to give kids the skills they need to succeed even more on stage.
Our Town Players, the Franklin-based community theater troupe, is welcoming the next generation of stage stars to a special educational opportunity. The group has planned an acting and musical theater intensive workshop on Feb. 24 for young thespians ages 7 to 17.
Led by actor and director Janet Salem, the event will help participants learn audition skills, how to act a monologue, some basic choreography and more. She is excited to share her experience and expertise to help them fully realize their talent.
“I love working with kids. They’re so open to something new, to being creative and trying something new,” she said. “It’s important that we give them the confidence they need.”
Our Town Players is a community theater troupe supported through Franklin Parks and Recreation. The group has presented live theater to the public since the 1990s.
Each year, organizers have tried to feature one production involving kids, such as “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Clumsy Custard Horror Show and Ice Cream Clone Review” and “The Wizard of Oz.”
“As many of the children who did our shows have grown up and are now doing adult productions with us, we really want to inspire the next generation of Franklin kids,” said Lauren Underwood, a member of the Our Town Players board of directors.
That desire synced with the involvement of Salem with the group. Salem, who recently moved to Franklin, has been heavily involved with theater throughout her life. She is a graduate of the American Academy of the Performing Arts and the co-founder of the Florida Academy of Performing Arts.
As a director, actor, writer and producer, she is familiar with the necessary skills needed to succeed on stage. She also has experience leading training academies for youth.
“Good training is important, especially for kids, because they can develop bad habits that can be very hard to break,” she said.
When Salem moved to Franklin, she found limited opportunities for youth theater in the area. She worked with Our Town Players to put on a workshop to teach kids the basics of performance.
“There is definitely an interest. I’ve started meeting some kids and coaching a little bit, hearing from parents that they’re grateful something is being offered,” she said.
Participants in the youth workshop will come prepared with a memorized one- to two-minute monologue or a musical theater song. That will be the vehicle to train and teach them over the course of four hours, Salem said.
Kids will learn simple lingo and technique, as well as how they enter the stage and what different stage direction means. Salem plans to guide them in how to audition and how to deliver their performance.
She’ll work with each of them, breaking down their monologue or musical number then offering suggestions on how to get better.
“I’ll work with each person — that’s why we capped the workshop at 15 people, to make sure I had time to work with each kid,” she said. “And as we’re working, the other kids are watching and we’re talking about everything. They’re learning as they’re watching the other students as well.”
Salem will not be teaching full-on choreography, but plans to provide some basic movements that young people would need to know in an audition.
“These will be common steps where, if they did go to a musical theater audition, they’d be expected to know,” she said.
Organizers for Our Town Players hopes the workshop leads to more educational experiences for area youth in theater.
“Kids are like sponges, they soak it in. I want them to learn to be supportive in a group environment,” Salem said. “That’s the beauty of a theater community — every theater community I’ve been a part of is a very supportive, nurturing environment. And I want to help cultivate that for them.”
