Just before their final weekend of performances, the actors playing some of the lead roles in the latest San Benito Stage Company production took time out of their busy schedules to teach some elementary-age kids about theater. Michael Frelier, who played Shrek in the local musical, and Serra Johnson, who played Fiona, talked with kids enrolled in the Si, Se Puede! Learning Center about their first time at an audition.
Amelia Souza-Hatcher, a board member with SBSC, also offered the kids advice on auditioning for future shows. Souza-Hatcher asked the kids gathered in the learning center at the Villa Luna Apartments about what songs would be good for an audition. The kids threw out songs from Disney animated films, such as “The Lion King.” They also talked about what kinds of clothes to wear to an audition and how to prepare.
Lizett Rodriguez, the lead teacher for the summer camp, said she connected with Souza-Hatcher for a lesson on theater after some of the campers said they wanted to go see the musical. Rodriguez said she knew some of the families might not be able to afford the cost of the show so she spoke with Souza-Hatcher about offering discounted tickets. Souza-Hatcher offered up discounted tickets to “Shrek the Musical” for 20 students along with some of their parents.
Rodriguez tied the show in with a summer challenge the kids are taking to read as many book pages as they can. In the class room, there is a paper palm tree that has different page goals written on it with paper monkeys to represent each student. As the students track the books they read at camp and at home, they move their monkeys up the tree trunk. The kids who had read 300 or more pages were invited to see the show.
“When they get to 5,000 pages, they will get a prize,” Rodriguez said.
Frelier and Johnson shared their stories of how they got into theater.
“When I was in high school I was really quiet,” Frelier said. “I went to school and never spoke to anyone.”
But his sophomore year, he enrolled in a drama class at the high school. He continued to act in shows at the high school and auditioned for a show with the community theater group when he was a senior. Frelier, a college student at University of California, Los Angeles, visited Hollister to audition for the summer show.
Johnson said she tried out for her first play when she was in elementary school.
“They say you get bit by the acting bug,” she said, adding that she was bit after her first show.
Friday’s activities tied in with their reading work as the students had a chance to do a cold reading with the script. They broke into three groups, with each group working with one San Benito Stage Company member.
The summer camp this year was revamped from past years in size and composition. This year 19 students are enrolled in the seven-week summer camp that meets for two and a half hours a day and the camp is tuition free. It was open just to residents of the Villa Luna Apartments, though in past years it was open to other San Benito families.
In the fall, the after-school program will change its focus once again. The Si, Se Puede! Learning Centers, funded by the Cesar Chavez Foundation, will be limited to enrolling 16 students. Rodriguez said the curriculum will be changing so that it is focused on technology. The students will work in groups of four each day and they will be posed with a question that they have to research on a tablet computer. Rodriguez said the program will be first-come, first-serve with applications going out to Villa Luna residents Aug. 12-16. The program will continue to have one hour of homework help.
“We want to try it out,” she said, noting that she will be the only staff member on site. “There will only be one of us. We want the students to learn social skills, problem solving and researching at a young age.”
