Upper Valley youth theater ‘has really blossomed’

When Isabella Byrne was growing up in Chelsea in the late 2000s, opportunities to participate in youth theater seemed slim.

Among the handful of programs available was Chelsea’s own Shakespeare camp, Get Thee to the Funnery, which Byrne first participated in at age 10 and for years after. 

Today, the landscape of youth theater in the Upper Valley looks very different as Byrne, now 26, and her cohort of seven other directors guide a new generation of Funnery actors in staging “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which opens this Friday on the hilly lawn of Tunbridge Central School. 

“Activity has really blossomed,” Byrne said. 

Alongside the Funnery, White River Junction’s Northern Stage, BarnArts in Barnard and Trumbull Hall Troupe all have youth productions on the horizon in the coming weeks. 

Meanwhile a couple weekends ago, Chandler Center for the Arts wrapped its Summer Youth Musical production of “Oliver!,” which featured over 40 young performers. In Lebanon, BroadwayVentures, a two-week camp for sixth through 12th graders that Hartford educators Brycen and Andrea Nardone launched in 2021, had its third and final performance of “Rock of Ages” on Saturday. 

But just how exactly is a rural area like the Upper Valley able to sustain this much youth theater? 

In the case of the Funnery, a lot of it has to do with former campers such as Byrne taking up leadership roles once they’ve aged out of the two-week program. 

Lukina Andreyev, who hails from Brookfield, Vt., attended camps at the Funnery from ages 13 to 18. She remembers the “trust that the directors had in us to understand what we were doing,” she said. 

Now a director herself, she’s part of carrying on that legacy. 

Last week, actors spent the beginning of camp poring over the play’s text with dictionaries on hand. 

“We don’t ever lead with our thoughts on the play,” Andreyev said. “We try to encourage (actors) to bring their own thoughts to the table.” 

This year, actors are digging into the power dynamics at play in “Midsummer,” Byrne said, particularly between the human and fairy folk, whose interweaving lives give way to all kinds of mischief. 

“It’s fun to see the kids picking up on the comedy of it,” said Tovahn Vitols, another director.

In keeping with Funnery tradition, characters are played by multiple actors, ranging from ages 12 to 18, meaning essentially every camper gets the chance to perform in a lead role, which is unusual for most theater camps in the area. 

When it comes to tuition, the Funnery uses a sliding scale of $150 to $500. The average cost to attend is $400 per student, and those who can pay more are encouraged to do so, so the extra money can go toward the program’s scholarship fund. 

“We want everyone to have a chance to work with Shakespeare and work with theater,” Andreyev said. 

In Barnard, BarnArts is in its second week of rehearsing a very different kind of show, the musical “Matilda,” which made its Broadway debut in 2013. 

Based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl about a precocious 5-year-old with unusual powers, it’s a “spunky show with great characters,” said Linda Treash, BarnArts’ executive director. 

Treash chose the show for its large cast of characters, all with quirks of their own, which ensured the whole group, ranging from ages 8 to 16, could have a named role and solo parts in the songs, she said. 

The camp has been a part of BarnArts’ programming for over a decade, and like the Funnery, as long as there’s space, everyone who signs up gets to participate. Auditions for individual roles are held on the third day of camp so actors have a chance to get to know each other as a group first. 

The program “embodies the soul of BarnArts because it’s about community … it’s about building ensemble,” Treash said. 

Tuition for the three-week camp costs around $600, and about a third of students received financial aid this year.  

“Usually the need is more for assistance” than a full-ride, Treash said.

If the Chelsea Funnery and BarnArts’ programs exist on one end of the spectrum of youth theater options in the Upper Valley, Northern Stage’s Summer Musical Theater Intensive, or SMTI, sits on the opposite end.

Officially launched in 2015, the program endeavors to replicate the experience of working in a professional company, albeit with more theater games.

Acceptance into SMTI includes a rigorous audition process followed by rehearsals six days a week. 

Despite the professional standard and busy schedule, the focus is still on fostering camaraderie and developing actors’ confidence, said Kevin David Thomas, Northern Stage’s co-director of education. 

“What makes Northern Stage special is that we elevate it as much as we can and still have a great time,” he said in an interview last week. 

Having a professional theater like Northern Stage in the area has helped the Upper Valley develop such a robust performing arts scene, he said.

Rehearsals are currently underway for SMTI’s upcoming production of the musical “Amélie,” which begins previews next Tuesday. 

With tuition set at $2,500, SMTI is among the most expensive youth theater programs in the Upper Valley. This year four out of the 16 cast members received financial aid.

Thomas acknowledges he’s taking a risk putting on “Amélie.” Based on the 2001 zany romantic comedy from French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the musical isn’t as well-known as some classics of the genre. When the Broadway version premiered in 2017, it was met with mixed reviews, with critics claiming the American adaptation had done away with many of the quirks that had given the film its charm. 

Northern Stage’s version takes inspiration from the West End adaptation, which burnished the film’s original sparkle. Next week’s production will unfold in a Parisian train station, with actors playing the garden gnome and goldfish that crop up in the protagonist’s dreamlike adventures. 

“Expect it to sound a little bit French, and a lot whimsical,” said Sam Harrison, who will play Suzanne, a cafe owner. 

In addition to SMTI, Harrison, who plans to study acting at Penn State University in the fall, participated in YES Next Stage, Northern Stage’s intensive that prepares high school students to apply for college performing arts programs. 

While attending Hanover High School, Harrison also served on North Country Community Theatre’s teen board and acted in shows with the school’s Footlighters group. 

“I don’t think I have more than a week break from September to May just based on how many shows I do,” Harrison said. “Yes, it’s hard work, but it doesn’t feel like work because I enjoy it.” 

Participating in a range of youth theater programs is fairly typical among Upper Valley teens.

Many of the girls acting in Trumbull Hall Troupe’s upcoming production of “SIX,” a contemporary musical that imagines Henry VIII’s six wives as members of a girl band in which the queen with the biggest sob story wins the spot as lead singer, have acted in shows at a number of theater companies in the area.

“A lot of the people I’m really close with have come through theater, including my boyfriend,” said Lia Hammond, who will play Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife.

With six-part harmonies, fast-paced choreography and larger-than-life roles, the musical is tough to pull off and director Lanni Luce West acknowledged that it’s the girls’ “years at THT, Northern Stage, NCCT, high school and voice lessons that’s gotten them to this point.”

Some of the Trumbull Hall actors, such as Macy Bettwieser, are heading to college in the fall to study musical theater, while others, such as Hammond, enjoy performing just for fun.

Tuition is free at Trumbull Hall. Participants are asked to pay a materials fee of $50.

Luce West expects a lot from her actors, but more than anything, she cares about them enjoying themselves and growing their confidence.

“The most successful teen programs are the ones that are really lifting the teens up. They are about the kids and how to make them look and be the best that they can be,” she said.

The Chelsea Funnery will perform “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 25 and at 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 26 at the rock behind the Tunbridge Central School on Route 110, or Chelsea Town Hall, if it rains. Tickets are by donation. For more information, go to thechelseafunnery.com.

BarnArts’ “Matilda” will be performed on Aug. 1-3 at Barnard Town Hall. For tickets ($10-$15) and more information, visit barnarts.org.

Northern Stage’s teen version of “Amélie” runs through Sunday, Aug. 3, with previews on July 29 and 30 in White River Junction. For tickets ($19-$32) and more information, go to northernstage.org.

Trumbull Hall Troupe’s teen production of “SIX” runs from Aug. 15-17 at Briggs Opera House in White River Junction. For tickets ($12-$40) and more information, go to trumbullhalltroupe.org.

Marion Umpleby can be reached at mumpleby@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.