WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM
14 UCW JANUARY 27-FEBRUARY 2, 2021
Cape Fear Regional Theatre began its stu-
dio classes Jan. 25 for children between the
ages of 4 to 19.
The theatre is currently offering classes las-
ting seven weeks in musical theatre, acting,
mini studio meant for 4 through 6-year-olds,
and two new additions being the musical
theatre dance and improv classes, Marc de la
Concha, director of education for CFRT, said.
"The classes are half process based and
half product based," de la Concha said. "It's
not just getting together and rehearsing a
couple of songs for the end show, we tr y to
teach the kids a lot of skills for working in the
theatre that will help them when they join us
for a summer camp or when they audition for
a show on a main stage."
We tr y to give kids those skills which I
believe add into their ever yday lives like
speaking in front of people, working as a
team, reading skills and such, it's a skill buil-
ding and some product-based stuff meaning
singing and dancing so you can show what
you learnt throughout the class, he said.
The mini studios meant for younger kids
focus on skills like standing in one place
for more than a couple minutes, speak loud
enough, be heard from the stage and are
taught by me, Ashley Owen, marketing direc-
tor and instructor for CFRT, said.
"This semester I am using Dr. Seuss books
to teach them those skills and prepping them
to go on to higher level classes," she said.
During the spring break the kids will do
their spring break bootcamp, where we will
have them in small groups and do a version
of the "Wizard of Oz," it's for the kids and
won't be open to the public, he said.
Owens said classes are once a week for an
hour and half and cost $150 with the excep-
tion of the mini studio classes which are an
hour long and cost $100.
The theatre offers militar y, sibling and
multi-class discounts. Class size ranges from
10 to 15 kids in each class.
The class sizes are prett y small, so the kids
get one-on-one instruction, and we keep it
safe during the pandemic, de la Concha said.
"Lots of hand sanitizers and ever yone's got
a mask on all the time," Owen said.
Owens said it's been a tough year but they
are luck y to have had great leadership at
the theatre who put in the time to figure
out things so kids could attend the summer
camp program and these classes.
"Performing arts are important, you know,
because we are learning in a different way
than in school, learning empathy, learning
about other people's experiences, different
cultures in a different way and I think it's
important for kids to learn those skills," de
la Concha said. "And some learn these skills
better this way than sitting in a school set-
ting, it helps with team building and getting
away from a screen and having actual inter-
personal interactions."
It's been such a saving grace for me per-
sonally, I love the kids, getting to work with
them, Owens said.
"It's just been so nice to see appreciate
being together in a way that they or people
didn't before the pandemic," she said.
We are ver y excited for this year and anxi-
ously waiting to be fully back in the theatre
for education and for our mainstage season
as well and hopefully we will be at the other
end of this ver y soon, de la Concha said.
For more information on the classes and
times, visit https://w w w.cfrt.org/educati-
on/#studio-classes
CFRT classes give kids stage and life skills
by KEYURI PARAB
KEYURI PARAB, Editorial Assistant
COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin-
gweekly.com 910-484-6200.
Cape Fear Regional Theatre studio classes for kids teach skills needed for stage performance that can also boost
reading skills, public speaking ability and working as a team.
EDUCATION
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