
Wesley Hoffman, 8, left, and Sydney Salmon, 10, rehearse their parts in “How To Eat Like a Child (and Other Lessons in NOT being a Grown-Up)” at the Chilkat Center for the Arts on Tuesday, July 16, 2019. The LCCP’s Summer Youth Theater Conservatory will perform the musical under the direction of Jane Keitel on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. The Playmakers with open the performance with “The Wise Old Woman.” Tickets are $12 for adults, $7 for children and $35 for families.
The Lynn Canal Community Players Summer Youth Conservatory will stage two plays this weekend about what happens when kids make the rules. In the first play, kids banish adults after they turn 71, and struggle without the knowledge of their elders. In the second performance, a musical, actors teach an adult audience lessons on how to be a kid.
“The first show is about the wisdom of age, and the second show is about the wisdom of youth,” said lead director, Jane Keital.
Showtime begins at 7 p.m. with “The Wise Old Woman,” a short piece performed by young conservatory students ages 5 to 7, and directed by Kathy Madsen. “It’s based on a traditional Japanese folk tale but it’s been adapted for our group,” Madsen said. The play is about how three “snooty princesses” make a law that banishes ‘old people’ as soon as they turn 71. “Then the evil lords come…to take over the village, but they can’t solve problems (without their elders’ wisdom),” Madsen said, stopping short of revealing the play’s surprise ending.
“(The playmakers) are great. They’re very full of energy, and they’re very excited,” Madsen said.
A romping performance continues with the main performance: “How to Eat Like a Child and Other Lessons in Not Being a Grown-up,” adapted from the book by Delia Ephron.
“It’s a fun book where each page is a lesson in how kids think and the way they do things,” Keital said. “It was made into a TV special in 1981 with Dick Van Dyke, and then a theater production.” Performers will present 23 lessons in song or scene, using humor, reality and mischief. The audience will learn “How to Beg for a Dog,” “How to Torture Your Sister,” “How to Act Punished,” and “How to Laugh Hysterically,” to name a few.
“The kids here in Haines are simply wonderful. They are good to each other, which is really important when you’re working as a team to create a show. They’re incredibly creative, and they had to work doubly hard to meet the challenges of singing and dancing,” Keital said, reflecting on her first time in Haines and in Alaska. “They live in a magical place, and we can create that magic on stage.”
Keital is from the New York City metropolitan area where she has been teaching the performing arts for more than 25 years. “(This) has been an exceptional experience for me,” she said.
Tickets for both Friday and Saturday shows for adults are $12, $7 for children and $35 for a family price, and can be purchased at the door or at the bookstore.