Sooner Theatre
101 E. Main Street
Norman, OK 73069
(405) 321-9600
(405) 364-0543 (fax)
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“We want the kids at The Studio of The Sooner Theatre to get familiar with the performing arts in a fun, relaxed, completely non-threatening environment. Then if they choose to stick with it and begin going on auditions, they’ll be properly trained, have excellent skills, confidence and a positive foundation to draw from.”
---Sooner Theatre Executive Director Jennifer Baker
In the summer of 2003, The Sooner Theatre offered its first musical theatre opportunity for children. Sooner Theatre Executive Director Jennifer Heavner Baker and camp co-director Melany Pattison brought together 45 performers, ages 8-18, who went through a simple audition, reahearsed for three weeks and put on four engaging productions of Bye Bye Birdie. The following year word about the camp had spread and children began signing up for auditions for, Good News, the summer production for 2004. To accommodate growing audiences, camp co-directors Jennifer and Melany decided to add a fifth performance to the schedule and it was a rousing success.
Campers and audiences alike were excited about the summer productions and began looking forward to the next Sooner Theatre summer show with great anticipation. In 2005, to satisfy increasing demand and create opportunities for more young performers, Baker and Pattison decided to offer two camps, one for 8-13 year olds and another for 13-18 year olds. Record numbers of kids came to audition for the 2005 productions of The Wizard of Oz and Footloose. That year, playing six shows per production, the summer camps experienced their first sell-out audiences when massive groups of day campers and the general public joined cast members’ friends and family to see The Wizard of Oz. The groundswell of support for the children’s programs at The Sooner was tremendous and carried over through the summer of 2006 when audiences filled the theatre to see the beloved musicals The Music Man and Grease. Parents as well as children were becoming increasingly eager for year-round learning opportunities at the theatre.
While Sooner Theatre Executive Director Jennifer Baker shared their enthusiasm and had a vision for the program, she knew that the key to making it a successful experience for students was to be highly selective in choosing instructors. Instructors had to have proper knowledge, training, experience and the right spirit to work with children before they could be considered to teach for The Sooner Theatre.
Another summer came and with it a generous win-win prospect from the University of Oklahoma. While The Sooner Theatre’s summer camps were booming, OU was moving their attention away from the two-week summer performing arts camps they had offered for years. They approached The Sooner with a proposal to “give” the two-week camps to the theatre with a request that OU students serve as camp instructors/counselors. By taking on the OU camps before the summer of 2007, The Sooner Theatre was able to offer five more classes throughout the summer and still conduct the two production camps.
In the summer of 2007, with nearly 160 young performers showing up for camp auditions, the theatre’s camps prepared for productions of Li’l Abner and Damn Yankees. Limited dressing room space regretfully forced the directors to turn away many talented performers following the auditions, but for the first time ever there were alternate Sooner Theatre classes for the children to enroll in. And enroll they did! Ultimately over 200 children were involved in The Sooner Theatre’s summer programs in the 2007 and Baker knew it was time to make the dream of year-round classes a reality.
In the fall of 2007, building on the highly successful summer camp program, The Sooner Theatre established The Studio of The Sooner and offered a series of year-round classes designed to train young performers in the areas of musical theatre, acting, improvisation, and auditioning.
“It is the realization of a long-time dream,” Baker said. “For years we have had enthusiastic parents of our summer campers asking us to offer classes throughout the school year. It was tough to wait, but we had to put together the perfect roster of quality instructors before we could move forward. We were finally able to assemble those outstanding instructors and provide the classes.”
The Sooner Theatre’s regular 2007-08 season was underway in the fall of 2007 so rehearsals, set design, and limited space forced The Studio classes to be held off-site. Thanks to great cooperation from The City of Norman, the classes were conducted in Norman’s Whittier Rec. Center. It was an excellent, but temporary, solution to the theatre’s limited-space problem.
Throughout the year the theatre’s staff and board members searched for the perfect permanent home for The Studio of The Sooner Theatre. Various locations were considered, but the ideal spot was found only one block east of The Sooner Theatre at 227 E. Main St., the former home of Norman’s University Theatre. Though it had been used for decades as retail space, the charm of putting The Studio classes in another historic theatre only one block from The Sooner was not lost on the staff and board.
Recently, in the spring of 2008, The Sooner Theatre of Norman, Inc. entered into a one year lease for the space and is currently overseeing the brisk construction of walls and two classrooms to be used this summer and fall. While this is an enormous achievement for a children’s program that is only five years old, it is only the beginning of the ultimate vision of the board and staff.
Plans are underway to build additional classrooms, voice instruction rooms and a small theatre in The Studio space. With tremendous success and growth providing the momentum, The Sooner Theatre Board of Directors and staff are embracing ambitious goals for The Studio of The Sooner Theatre. Stay tuned for further development.
The Studio of The Sooner Theatre is a program of The Sooner Theatre of Norman, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
THE STUDIO OF THE SOONER THEATRE STEERING COMMITTEE
Dr. Brad Benson
Director of Fine Arts, Norman Public Schools
Thomas E. Cunningham
Member of AEA, former “Phantom” in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera
Chris Freihofer
Member of SAG, Actor/Casting Director
Dr. Jerry Hargis
Consulting Director
Tom Huston Orr
Director of Drama and Producer of University Theatre, University of Oklahoma
Melany Pattison
Music Teacher, All Saints Catholic School and The Sooner Theatre, Norman
Jennifer Heavner Baker
Executive Director, The Sooner Theatre
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AN EVENING WITH RUTHIE FOSTER
March 12, 2010
SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM
March 26-28 & April 1-3, 2010
SUMMERSTAGE AND YOUNG PRODUCERS AUDITIONS
March 26-28
SummerStage: Annie Get Your Gun
Young Producers: Thoroughly Modern Millie
Call 321-9600 to schedule your audition
MARCIA BALL IN CONCERT
April 9, 2010
Republic Bank & Trust
Studio Series presents
SOONER THEATRE SHOWCASE
April 17, 2010
THE FORMER TEXAS PLAYBOYS
April 21, 2010 |
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