By Dave Babbitt – Special to the Sydenham Current
Until recently, I was part of the Wallaceburg Arts Council for about 35 years.
For many years, I had the golden opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors of the Council with some fantastic teammates such as Jane McGee, the late Dave Edwards, Carol Koop, John Gardiner, Marilyn MacLennan, my wife Clare, and Kareen Springett.
Kareen was an elementary teacher who had a specific interest in developing and coordinating a Children’s Series for the Arts Council, and entertaining children is an art like no other.
Having experience with children’s audiences myself, it’s very apparent to me that while it’s easy to “wind them up,” professional children’s entertainers have developed exceptional skill sets in controlling a sea of enthusiastic children that most do not.
For several years, Kareen was responsible for arranging some phenomenal, professional children’s entertainers such as Charlotte Diamond, Duffle Bag Theatre, and Richard Knechtel (aka Dicki Bird) to come to Wallaceburg—not only to entertain the children but to train them on how to be an appropriate audience member as well.
The Children’s Series was a successful and important part of the Arts Council’s goals for many years. But in time, with a shrinking number of people willing to serve on the Arts Council, the Council essentially went to “sleep” for a few years until Dave Elliott revived it several years ago.
While the Arts Council is back up and running again, the Children’s Series has not yet enjoyed the same resurrection.
I must pause my story for a few moments to begin a related story.
My wife Clare’s first permanent teaching posting was at Dawn Euphemia Elementary School in the 2015-16 school year.
During her lone year at Dawn Euphemia, another staff member decided to try to mount a production of The Lion King: Kids.
The Lion King is the most successful musical in Broadway history for a reason, and this would prove to be a “can’t-miss” choice.
Having a love of the arts, being a skilled musician, and having previously served on the Wallaceburg Arts Council, Clare eagerly became involved in this overly ambitious project—particularly for such a small school.
My love of music and the arts, my enjoyment of building things, and my experience in sound production provided me with an opportunity to become involved as well.
In short, it was the most amazing experience I had had in years!
I’ve been the Music Director for Oklahoma!, Grease, two productions of The Sound of Music, and several other smaller productions, but this musical took the cake!
The star of the show, Simba, was played by a Grade 3 girl, and the rest of the cast was amazing as well.
We spent weeks turning the little gymnasium into a “jungle” complete with jungle sounds the moment the audience arrived, jungle mist in the air, appropriate lighting, and wired each of the main actors with headset microphones so they could be heard clearly.
The staff and production crew went all out to make it as professional as possible.
The production was barely more than a half-hour long, but the gymnasium was packed to the rafters, and when the show concluded, I was so moved by the production and so happy for the kids that… I cried.
Ever since that experience, to no avail, I’ve been attempting to get others to attempt to mount the same or a similar production.
But such an undertaking is huge, and funds for such a production are difficult to come by at the school level.
Then, last fall, I had one of my scary “idea” moments.
I thought, Since the Arts Council would like to resurrect the Children’s Series and the Arts Council has some potential funding, why not make children in Wallaceburg BE the entertainers instead of simply being entertained by bringing in professional entertainers?
I presented my idea to the Board of Directors early in the fall, and the concept was quickly approved.
In order to proceed, however, there were major obstacles and decisions to be made before the production could be announced.
First of all, we needed a director.
Brenda Mann, a retired veteran in the teaching profession, volunteered to take on this role, and my wife Clare volunteered to assist.
Then, we needed a producer.
Rebecca Rynsoever stepped up to the plate.
For those unaware, the producer is very much a business manager and finds the means and people to allow the director to realize his/her vision, and Rebecca has experience in this role.
Having already helped on the technical side of things in the Dawn Euphemia production, I volunteered to help in this area again.
While we quickly had volunteers to fill those crucial roles, the first order of business was to secure production rights from Music Theatre International.
For those who do not know how things work in the field of theatre, those who control the rights to productions will often not allow competing productions if another production is running in a nearby area.
In this case, as The Lion King is currently on stage in Toronto, there was a question as to whether we could secure the rights to The Lion King: Kids.
Rebecca worked her magic, and rights were granted!
Next, as the Jeanne Gordon Theatre has been shuttered, we needed to find an appropriate venue to mount the production.
We approached the UAW to see if they would allow us to use their hall to present the production, and they readily agreed!
In time, I was speaking with WDSS Drama Teacher Nicki Lane, casually telling her about our plans.
It wasn’t long after that Nicki suggested that perhaps the musical could be presented at WDSS instead.
First of all, we would not need to build a stage.
Secondly, lighting and sound equipment are already largely in place.
And thirdly, the WDSS Drama students would be willing to assist (though not in acting roles).
Aside from this, Nicki has told me that down the line, she has plans to mount her own musical production, and this would be an excellent training ground for future actors.
Some of the actors in *The Lion King: Kids* may one day also participate in a high school production.
It’s difficult to explain the excitement around this production.
Children will no longer need to leave Wallaceburg to participate in musical theatre, nor even pay a fee to participate as they do in some neighboring communities.
Me? I’m over-the-top excited to see this now on the front burner, and I’m likely more excited about this than the kids!
Auditions are now complete, and the hard work is about to begin.
I will keep readers informed of progress and how they might be able to help if volunteer positions become available.
The production will be presented on Father’s Day weekend in June, so mark your calendars.
Even if you have no children or family involved, it’s not to be missed!
