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Theater group performs for local children

Date 5/12/2005 12:00 AM | Topic: Arts & Culture

Over 1,600 children from local schools will be piling off yellow school buses Friday to attend a performance of The Little Mermaid, put on by American Family Theater, Inc. based out of Philadelphia.

The group will present the Hans Christian Andersen tale of The Little Mermaid, a classic fairy tale about a mermaid who falls in love with a human.

This is one of three children's shows the Center for Faith and Life box office puts on each year, inviting schools from as far as Dubuque to attend.

Fourteen schools will be present for two shows during the day.

Yvonne Kuhlman, director of campus programming, is in charge of booking the children's shows.

"Because we are virtually the only theater of this kind in the area, we have a responsibility as an arts leader in this region to make these opportunities available to children," Kuhlman said.

Although the show is not free for the children, the box office only charges $3.50 a ticket, which is either covered by the students or by the schools' activity funds.

Study guides are sent to the schools in advance so that teachers can prepare the students for the performance and teach them how to behave in the theater.

"We regularly get compliments from the companies on how well behaved the kids are," said Kuhlman. "They're learning what it means to go to a theater, what it means to be quiet, what it means to sit there, what it means to clap at the right place. They learn etiquette."

Most of the shows the box office brings in have some sort of lesson tied into the theme.

Next year's schedule of events will add more discussion to the education provided by the events.

In addition to Willy Wonka and Ramona Quimby, the box office is bringing in a show called Danny, King of the Basement, which deals with homelessness and poverty.

After this show there will be a discussion session about what the students learned or have questions about.

"There's no more powerful way to learn than through theater," Kuhlman said.

"It just makes an impact that you can't have by standing up in front of a class and telling them," said Kuhlman.

"Personally there isn't anything I enjoy more than to see all the yellow buses pull up and to see these adorable children coming out and coming up the steps two by two," said Kuhlman.

Student workers from the Performing Arts Committee will be ushering for Friday's performance.

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Michelle Matthews

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