Summer break is just around the corner and we’re excited to announce that the Froelich Young Actors Guild theater camp is ready for all the drama! Registration is open now through May 1. The camp offers two age-appropriate sessions: 7th – 12th grade; and, 2nd – 6th grade.
Each group meets Monday through Friday, May 31 through June 23.
Select your child’s group based on the grade they will be entering in Fall 2023.
Group A (7th – 12th grade)
A Simpler Time
Led by Gabriella Hertz
Monday – Friday, 9 am til noon. May 31st – June 23rd
Performances: Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24 at 7 pm
Group B (2nd – 6th grade)
Aesop’s Fables Redux
Led by Elysia Pederson
Monday – Friday, 1 til 4 pm. May 31st – June 23rd
Performance: Sunday, June 25 at 2 pm
Registration
Registration is open April 1 through May 1. Please download the form below and return it to the Matthews gallery. You can also pick up a printed copy of the registration form at the gallery during business hours, Monday – Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm.
We love teaching your kids! So that we can give them the attention they deserve, we have to restrict class size. A maximum of two children per family, per age group will be accepted. A $50 deposit (per child) is due at registration.
Play Descriptions
“A Simpler Time” | Group A | Actors in grades 7-12 (entering these grades in Fall 2022) We challenged nine playwrights to find the funny and familiar in every era in this collection of ten-minute plays. Designed to be flexible for your trip through the fourth dimension, these plays can be performed in any combination, and you can choose to thread them together with optional interludes that form a tale of three time travelers. When you find yourself fighting with your friends on the night before the Constitution is due, listening in at a telephone switchboard in the 1940s, trying to avoid the more gruesome aspects of medieval times, or exploring a mysterious possible future, only one thing is certain: there’s humor in human nature.
“Aesop’s Fables Redux” | Group B | Actors in grades 2-6 (entering these grades in Fall 2022) A witty narrator helps an inquisitive child understand some famous expressions by exploring Aesop’s beloved fables. The lessons behind these expressions are playfully illustrated through a series of well-known stories and brought to life by a variety of human and animal characters. These classic fables, such as The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg, provide a fresh, warm, and fun learning experience.
Some MOH Children’s Theater History
The Matthews has been home to our children’s theater since 2008 with the production of “101 Dalmatians.”
The plays throughout the years have been:
2008: 101 Dalmatians
2009: Sleeping Beauty
2010: Jungle Book
2011: Willa Wonka
2012: Aladdin, Jr.
2013: Little Mermaid, Jr.
2014: Beauty and the Beast, Jr.
2015: My Son Pinocchio, Jr.
2016: Alice in Wonderland, Jr.
2017: High School Musical, Jr.
2018: Little Mermaid, Jr.
2019: We Are Monsters/A Lonely Boy’s Guide to Survival (and Werewolves)
2021: All I Really Need to Know, I Learned by Being in a Bad Play/Once Upon a Shoe
All of the shows have been KIDS versions except Willy Wonka. “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “My Son Pinocchio, Jr., and High School Musical, Jr.” are Broadway Junior versions of these shows.
Play materials are ordered from Music Theatre in New York. These materials include a script which has the lyrics and the score of every song as they appear in the musical. The cast and crew get to keep these scripts, along with the rehearsal CD of all the music in the show.
The casts and crews of each production are also children. They design and create everything from costumes to set and props and lighting. Also, this program has had many dedicated, talented adults who use the power tools and all kinds of equipment and expertise that is needed to perform a fabulous show.
In 2019, the name of the PB&J Players changed to the Froelich Young Actors Guild to honor long-time children’s theater director Ann Froelich. This change also broke the production into two plays: one for ages 2nd – 6th grade, and another for ages 7th – 12th.
