LOUDONVILLE – Jessica Wagner is working hard to give kids in Loudonville the same kind of on-stage experience she had as a child growing up in the village.
“I remember being in third or fourth grade and playing one of the lead roles in ‘Another Tortoise, Another Hare,’ and it was exciting to have that kind of thing in our town,” Wagner said.
So, she launched a children’s theater group, The Loudonville Players Jr., and invited music students from her private lessons as well as other youth from the community.
The preschool through eighth grade troupe is preparing to put on Wagner’s largest production to date, The Wizard of Oz Young Performers Edition. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Friday, May 11 and 2 p.m. Saturday, May 12, and the musical is staged at the newly restored Ohio Theatre at 156 N. Water St. in Loudonville.
Many of the younger kids in the 26-member cast are having a great time playing munchkins, and older students have a chance to shine in some of the lead roles.
“Three of my lead characters are in the same grade in the same school, and they are having a blast because one’s Dorothy, one’s the Wicked Witch and one’s the Good Witch,” Wagner said, adding that Laila Manchester is doing well as Dorothy.
“She was one of the first to have her lines memorized, and she’s got that soft, effervescent voice,” Wagner said.
Manchester, a fourth grader at Loudonville’s C.E. Budd School, was excited to be cast as the lead.
“I’ve just always liked singing, and I kind of like acting because I get to feel the characters that I play,” she said. “It’s really fun to play Dorothy because she’s a lot like a farm girl, and I live on a farm. i think I’m a lot like her because she likes to daydream and I daydream a lot.”
In addition, Maggie England is the Good Witch, Emlyn Bitner is the Wicked Witch, Zach Manchester is the Scarecrow, Helaina Gray is the Tin Man and Riley Fogle is the Cowardly Lion.
“My mom and dad and brothers said right when they heard the first couple lines of the audition, ‘This role is made for you,'” said Fogle, a home-schooled eighth grader who also plays the farm hand, Zeke.
Fogle said he believes audiences will the enjoy the humor in the show. His favorite part is in the Wizard’s chamber when the lion faints.
The cast has been practicing since March, with help from parent volunteers and some older kids backstage.
Wagner believes children’s theater is a good extracurricular activity to keep kids busy and serves as a great outlet for those that are musically inclined.
“It’s super important to get kids involved at a young age because kids are so full of potential and learning capabilities that the earlier they get started, the faster they learn,” she said. “Just getting kids on a stage at a young age helps break down that barrier and get them out of their shell a lot sooner than if they hadn’t had a performance.”
