Director spends summer with the kids

Tom Titus

Summertime has been a special time for the last several years for

director Terri Miller Schmidt. It’s the time she spends with the

kids. Not her own kids. The ones who comprise the casts of the summer

children’s show at the Newport Theater Arts Center.

Schmidt has mounted summer productions over the past few years of

“Popeye,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “The Princess and the Magic

Pea.” Next weekend, she’ll unwrap a new version of a classic folk

tale, “The Magical Pied Piper.”

“It’s a project I always look forward to each year,” she says.

“With my background of producing and directing children’s theater in

Orange County since 1984, I am constantly reminded of the need for

this kind of theatrical experience not only for the children who

perform in or attend these plays, but for their parents and family

members, too.”

It’s not just a “kids’ show.” Local adult luminaries who have

participated in past summer productions include veteran performers

Teri Ciranna, Adriana Sanchez, Damien Lorton and Jack Millis, just to

name a few. It’s a genre in which these veterans have an opportunity

to play as broadly as they want to -- and they take full advantage of

it.

“I especially enjoy casting adults in the adult roles so the

younger cast members have a chance to learn from experienced actors,”

said the director, a recent Daily Pilot woman of the year in theater.

“Some of these kids may never appear in another play, and some of

them will use this experience to launch an entire career in the

performing arts,” Schmidt said. “I have seen it happen over and over

again. Some of the children we have had here at NTAC have gone on to

perform on Broadway and other top regional theaters.”

The youngsters learn the art of performing on stage from the

veterans and discover, as Schmidt said, “the pure fun and joy of

performing for a live audience in a professional theater atmosphere.”

“I also encourage the youths to involve themselves in the

technical aspects of theater,” she added. “We have young people

apprenticing as light board operators, stage crew and tech people,

working side by side with qualified adults learning the ins and outs

of technical support. What better way to establish a new crop of

‘techies’ for the theater?”

The payoff for Schmidt comes from watching the reaction of the

young audience members, some of whom will be experiencing a live

performance for the first time.

“It’s always thrilling to me to see children in the audience,” she

said. “In this day of immediate gratification and surreal stimulation

from electronic games, digital animation and unbelievable special

effects in film, it is a real challenge to work to try to involve

these kids with a character in a play. Not only the kids up there

acting, but the kids out there watching.”

You don’t see “The Magical Pied Piper” produced too often --

perhaps because the ending, as originally written in the folk tale

“The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” was a bit of a downer. Never fear. In

the NTAC version, the director assures that all will turn out well.

For those unfamiliar with the story, the village of Hamelin is

plagued by rats. The mayor offers a reward for anyone who can

disperse them. When a young man with a magical pipe leads the rats

from the town and returns for his reward, the mayor reneges -- so the

piper works his magic on the town’s children who, in the original

story, are never heard from again.

“In our version, the children are released from the spell of the

pipe and return home to their loving parents, and the mayor gets his

due,” Schmidt promised.

“These are extremely bright and talented kids, and I am always

proud of the parents who clear their schedules and busy lives to

bring the kids to the audition and performances and make a commitment

to involve them in the performing arts,” she said.

“It’s harder and harder for parents to find these kinds of

entertainment, and I am convinced that once they involve their kids

and themselves, it can truly change lives,” Schmidt said.