Beck Center for the ArtsJourney Back in Time with the Beck Center
Part 2: The Children Take the Stage
By Kelly Kutler
This coming December (2008), the Beck Center celebrates 60 years of Saturday mornings filled with the sound of children’s laughter. The tradition dates back to 1948, when the Lakewood Little Theatre School began. As the Beck Youth Theater Education Program prepares for its 60th Anniversary Homecoming Celebration, staff and alumni reflect on six decades of challenges and laughter. “It’s an incredible place,” says former student, Maggie Fishell. “The people who’ve passed through the program created an absolutely magical experience for those of us who followed them.”
Actress, Virginia Woodworth, was the Little Theatre School’s first director. Affectionately nicknamed “Woodbean” by her students, Woodworth recruited the original teaching staff. Among the first hires, was radio talk show personality, “Lady Jan” Egert. Egert says that the program had a clear purpose from the very beginning. “Our focus was not on creating child stars,” says Egert. “The objective was always to teach children to be more comfortable with the spoken word so that they could become better in school and in life. I was thrilled to be involved.”
Classes included instruction in basic theater techniques, diction, and characterization. Karl Mackey made sure that Saturday mornings belonged to the children, entrusting them with use of the stage, lighting, and sound booths. Parents immediately pitched in and became an integral part of the activities, helping out with everything from costumes to fundraising. “The parents formed the Educational Theater Board as soon as the school opened,” says Egert. “They were completely behind us and so were the people who worked with the adult theater.”
The students also performed two plays each year to sold out audiences of delighted children. “We were famous for doing classics for children by children,” says Egert. “We had scout troops come in from all over the area and sometimes earn badges by going behind the scenes.” Former director, M.A. Haskin, was often in charge of over 100 students for each production. “We had two separate casts for each play so that we could put as many kids as possible on stage,” says Haskin. “I’d motivate them to behave by asking them to raise their hands and solemnly promise not to talk backstage.”
Special production touches included Egert’s idea to use a live goat for Heidi, and coating the stage with Teflon so that Hans Brinker could appear to skate. Students memorized their parts in small weekly increments to ensure success. And in an effort to foster teamwork rather than competition, leading roles were rotated from season to season. “If you played the lead one season, you knew you’d be playing the maid or the dust sweeper in the next show,” say Egert.
Thanks to this nurturing atmosphere, even the shyest students found the courage to participate. “We believed that arts should never be criticized or graded,” says Egert. “Some children were too shy to say their names out loud, but we worked with them. One little boy hid under a chair for weeks and by the end of the semester, his friends voted him to play the lead in our next production.” Parent, Linda Hiser, says her son was once prone to breaking out in hives before speaking in public. “He wanted nothing to do with the theater classes, so the staff encouraged him to be the curtain boy. Soon he came out of his shell and appeared in all the productions.”
In 1948, Faith Killius was in the 5th grade and one of the school’s first pupils. “I lived for it as a child,” says Killius. “One year during a terrible blizzard, I couldn’t understand why my father wouldn’t drive me to theater school.” Killius also recalls the extraordinary experience of appearing on “Lady Jan’s” radio show. “Jan would drive us to the station to perform the classics live on WJW. How many children get to learn about things like radio sound effects and how to behave during a live broadcast?”
By 1962, Egert founded the “Teen Theater” to accommodate the needs of older students who wished to remain in the program. When parents requested an increase in activities in 1972, Egert began the five week summer theater workshop called “SUMMERTHING.” By the time the school moved into the Beck Center in 1976, enrollment had skyrocketed from an initial 80 students to over 800. “There were so many kids and we looked for ways to include them all,” says Egert. So in 1980, they began the Children’s Theater on Wheels, a traveling ensemble of students who weren’t cast in other productions. As word spread, busloads of children from other counties flooded in to attend Saturday classes.
Yet impressive enrollment numbers and sold out shows are only part of the Youth Theater picture. The magic of Saturdays at the Beck, has inspired lifelong involvement in students who went on to volunteer with the program, teach, then enroll their own children. Many parents not only watched their children perform, they volunteered behind the scenes, helped with fundraising, and taught classes. Faith Killius grew to become a teacher and watch her own daughter, Robbie, star in Cinderella. In 1955, Marjorie Wiese enrolled her daughters, became President of the Educational Theater Board, and still serves today as an Honorary Trustee. Jan Egert directed the program until 1986, when she retired and was replaced by long-time instructor, Colleen Lanning.
As a former parent and teacher, Lynne Jennings, is familiar with the school’s indelible impact. “The best thing is that kids who never would have met, became lifelong friends,” says Jennings. “And kids who never fit in anywhere else, found a home. Once you stepped through those doors, no one cared where you came from.” Alumni and teacher, Ellen Huber, says she found her truest friends at the Beck. “It was a place where it was completely safe to express yourself and never be mocked,” says Huber. “There were no egos. Every single person mattered and if one cast member lost a shoe or a prop, we’d all pitch in to find it. As a result, we formed friendships that have lasted for decades.”
According to present director and alumna, Dawn Youngs, the focus of Beck Youth Theater is still on family involvement and providing a safe place to explore creativity. “Our objective hasn’t changed since 1948,” says Youngs. “We’re still committed to building confidence and allowing children to become wholly their own people. This is still a place where everyone fits in.” Parent involvement also remains high as CAST (Company of Advocates for Students of Theater), provides considerable volunteer and financial support to the program and its productions. “It would be impossible to get things done without these terrific parents,” says Youngs.
The current Youth Theater puts on four shows each year, in addition to four summer camps geared toward production. The annual spring musical pulls out all the stops and features 40-50 students. Children under 12 perform one show in early winter and in late winter, the teen students present more challenging material. “We’ve recently been introducing the older students to truly thought provoking scripts like The Laramie Project and Arcadia,” says Youngs. “We continue to choose our projects with an eye toward teaching students to appreciate art, while still having fun.”
On Sunday December 21, 2008, the Beck Center Youth Theater Education Program officially celebrates its 60th Anniversary. Beck Theater Alumni and Friends are invited to a matinee performance of Peter Pan followed by a special reunion reception. Proceeds from the reunion will be put toward the Youth Theater program endowment fund. If you’re a Youth Theater alumni, know someone who is, or wish to be added to the mailing list for this event, please contact Dawn Youngs at 216-521-2540 ext. 17, or e-mail her at dyoungs@beckcenter.org.