New clothes, new eyes
Marisa O’Neil
Kaiser Elementary School Student Audrey Azevedo likes sitting in the
balcony.
Newport Heights Elementary School student Jayzee MacPhail likes
the ushers.
Carissa Sherma from Victoria Elementary School just likes getting
out of class.
Those three, and about 100 others, went to see “The Emperor’s New
Clothes” at South Coast Repertory Theatre on Tuesday, courtesy of
Costa Mesa’s Festival of Children Foundation. The foundation hosted
students from Costa Mesa’s Girls Inc. and three other Orange County
organizations for the performance, the first such event for the newly
formed foundation.
“Everybody talks about the lack of arts programs in the schools,”
Foundation Director Sandy Segerstrom Daniels said. “Children often
don’t get exposed to things like this until someone brings them to
it.”
The matinee performance was the first of what Segerstrom Daniels
hopes will be an ongoing partnership with South Coast Repertory and
other local arts companies to expose more children to the arts. The
Festival of Children Foundation, which grew out of the annual,
monthlong Festival of Children at South Coast Plaza, works with local
children’s organizations.
“I love the theater and remember going as a child and being really
enthralled by it,” said Eileen Daiher, Festival of Children
Foundation event coordinator. “We hope to expose children who
otherwise wouldn’t go to the theater.”
Audrey, 11-year-old Jayzee and 9-year-old Carissa all enjoyed “The
Emperor’s New Clothes,” the story of a 14-year-old boy who tries to
revamp his image after being crowned emperor and ends up losing the
shirt off his back.
“I liked the part when he had no clothes,” Audrey, 9, said. “Well,
he had shorts and stockings and shoes on. He wasn’t naked.”
All three also managed to learn a lesson from the play.
“It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside,” Jayzee
said.
“Just be yourself,” Carissa added.
The play is part of the theater’s Theatre for Young Audiences
series, geared toward families and young children. South Coast
Repertory also has an educational program, which is designed to
fulfill fourth-grade English language arts standards programs.
Teachers can download lesson plans to use in conjunction with each
production series. Others planned this season are “Sideways Stories
from Wayside School” and “The Wind in the Willows.”
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