A local theater group aimed at youth is still riding high after another successful showing at a national showcase.
A team from Treehouse Theater participated in the annual Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta in January, where they performed a shortened rendition of Shrek The Musical JR.
Deanne Stokes, who Directs JTF team, tells SeehaferNews.com that this was her third trip to JTF, and is comprised of the best performers at Treehouse Theater.
She says Treehouse has always focused on making sure everyone who makes the trip is on stage for the entire duration of the performance.
She said, “We figure kids are going to be going to Atlanta with us and paying that much money, they should be on stage the whole time.”
Shannon Meulbroek, the music director for Treehouse, was part of the group that had to cut the Shrek show from 90 minutes down to 15 minutes without cutting any of the songs short.
“We had to figure out which ensemble songs we wanted to do and time how long they take, and that came out to, I think just over 12 minutes,” she revealed. “Then you have to fit the pieces of dialog, but you can add between two string those stories together easily enough to understand what’s going on.”
Chloe Johanek was one of two performers named a Junior Theater Festival All-Star for her role as Donkey.
She thoroughly enjoys making the trip due to the comradery that is felt by all performers.
“There’s a section of JTF where you go and watch other people’s shows,” she explained. “You can just feel the energy coming from every single team there that’s hyping up the team that is performing. The amount of standing ovations that happen in that room is amazing.”
Sophia Skrepenski, who played Momma Bear, said she really enjoys taking a role and finding a way to make it her own.
“When we went to see (Shrek) at JTF, we saw them do it and she did it so completely different than I did,” she noted. “She was much more silly and goofy and she was way out there. I wanted to be a mother. I wanted to be a mom. So I was taking care of everybody who was around me on stage. That was what I really liked about it. I got to be a mom.”
Suzie Ehle played double duty as Story Teller #1 and Sleepy the Dwarf in her fourth and final year participating.
Ehle told us she felt herself grow as a performer and a person over those four years.
“The first year, I wasn’t as outgoing and talkative to other teams,” she recalled. “Every year I go, I get more and more talkative to other teams.”
Katie Naegele, who is the social media ambassador for Treehouse Theater and the other Junior All Star, took on the role of Pinnochio.
Kaite said her main focus in the role was to appear as wooden and puppet-like as possible, which was a physical challenge.
“I try at all times to make sure that my arms were up and stiff and that I was kind of like walking as though strings were controlling me. I was actually really hard,” she said with a chuckle.
Mackenzi Stokes also played multiple roles, portraying the Sugar Plum Fairy and Gingy.
Mackenzi was dressed as the fairy while also controlling the Gingy puppet, which she said was its own challenge.
“You have to try to act like one character and talk and move your arm like a different one, and it’s very hard,” she said. “To even move the mouth was stressful.”
Aside from the on stage performance, Treehouse Theater also had a team participate in the Tech Olympics.
That competition highlights the skill of the backstage workers at a show.
Last year, the local squad was the #1 team out of over 100 groups, and this year, they finished in the top five.
You can learn more about Treehouse Theater and its upcoming shows by visiting TreehouseTheater.com.
