Children who love to play pretend (and what kid doesn’t?) can harness that energy and develop their confidence through the fall lineup of courses at the Children’s Theatre of Long Beach.
The theater is now offering a variety of fall performance classes beginning Sept. 28 in its new location at the Los Altos United Methodist Church, 5950 E. Willow St., Long Beach.
The nonprofit theater company has offered after-school and weekend programs for over a decade under the leadership of educator, choreographer and director Sean McMullen, working with children to stage such plays as “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” last February at Long Beach’s historic Ernest Borgnine Theatre.
This fall, the company is staging the musicals “Hadestown: Teen Edition” in October and “Beetlejuice JR” in December — both shows adapted from original Broadway musicals to be performed by younger actors.
But kids don’t have to perform in the theater’s plays to participate in its new fall classes, which are open to all kids aged five and up, depending on the course, and for differing fees.
In a “Kids Scene Study” class that runs Saturday mornings, Sept. 26 to Nov. 1, actor and director Michael Taber teaches self-expression, team building, improvisation, movement, acting techniques and script and character analysis. The fee is $215 per student.
In its voice classes for ages 10 and up beginning Monday, Sept. 28, parents can choose private, semi-private or group instruction for their kids for differing rates and skill levels. Musician and music director Jan Richeson Davis teaches pitch, interval training, breath control, music theory and performance skills.
The theater company is also offering different types of dance classes beginning Monday, Sept. 28 — “Katie’s Kids Dance Classes” with Katie Davis, focusing on jazz and/or tap dance for ages 6 to 13, and “Miss V’s Dance Classes” with Veronica Esperanza for ages 5 to 13 focusing on ballet. Fees differ by type of dance.
And for the more adventurous young performers aged 12 and up beginning Wednesday, Sept. 30 from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m., the theater company is offering “Stage Combat with Sword,” where kids learn how to “parry and slash like a swashbuckling pirate,” according to the company’s website. The fee is $135.
Fight choreographers Anne Gundry and Reigh Levinstein will cover concepts of single-sword stage combat, including the importance of safety and consent, types of attacks, ways to defend, character choices in the “heat of battle,” footwork, sword maintenance and “wounds and kills,” according to the website.
“The class will teach you how to safely put danger on the stage to keep your audience on the edge of their seats,” the website states. Students get to perform a short scene doing just that at the end of the course.
To register for Children’s Theatre of Long Beach’s fall classes, visit ChildrensTheatreofLongBeach.org.