Footlight Players, Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s theater for youth, will present a festival of two plays and two musicals on the main stage at Theatre-by-the-Grove in IUP’s Performing Arts Center on July 12, 13, and 14.
Performances are open to the public at a low cost. Advance tickets can be purchased at IUP’s Marketplace or at the door.
On July 12 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. and on July 13 at noon and 2:00 p.m., Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, Jr. will be performed by the younger “camper” players, and Star Rise Bakery will be performed by the teen academy players. Both include “fantastical” elements of magic and surprise. Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, Jr. is presented in special arrangement with Music Theatre International.
On July 13 at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and July 14 at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., audiences will see Mary Poppins, Jr. by the Academy, and the Campers performing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as adapted by local actor/playwright Sam Sherburne. Disney and Cameron Macintosh’s Mary Poppins, Jr. is presented in special arrangement with Music Theatre International.
Members of the 2024 Footlight Players group
Packed with high-energy dance numbers and catchy songs, Matilda the Musical, Jr. is a joyous girl power romp. Rebellion is nigh in Matilda Jr., a gleefully witty ode to the anarchy of childhood and the power of imagination. This story of a girl who dreams of a better life and the children she inspires will have audiences rooting for the “revolting children” who are out to teach the grown-ups a lesson.
Star Rise Bakery is a new coming-of-age tale surrounded by bread. Coco is your average high-schooler who just got a job working at the bakery before school. When rules are enforced that stop snack time instead of the bullies, Coco takes the audience on a journey, expressing what it means to be young, standing up for yourself, your friends, and your favorite baked goods.
In Mary Poppins, Jr. the jack-of-all trades, Bert, introduces us to England in 1910 and the troubled Banks family. Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family members how to value each other again. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren’t the only ones upon whom she has a profound effect. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that “Anything can happen if you let it.”
Sherburne’s version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, based on Lewis Carroll’s storybook, follows Alice down the rabbit hole to a place that is “curiouser and curiouser.” Says Alice, “When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!” It is a fantastical journey as Alice strives to discover who in the world she really is, eventually learning to embrace her unique qualities and special strengths.
Footlight Players spend their mornings rehearsing spoken lines, songs, choreography, and movement to prepare for the performances. After a company lunch of everyone together, the Players split off to several workshops in support of the skills they will need to succeed. Then at 4:00 p.m. they end their day together again to review the word of the day and how they experienced values like focus, bravery, discovery, and accomplishment.
“It is a full day for these 62 creative young people, but worth it,” said Brian Jones, professor in IUP’s Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance, who created Footlight Players in 2004 as an outreach project. “Most of the players are from Indiana County, but some come from states far away to experience Footlight while staying with friends and relatives.
Footlight Players is a project of the IUP Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance. It provides creative opportunities for young people in the community and valuable experience for IUP students learning to become teaching artists. All participants enrolled in Footlight get a role onstage and are given tasks to help complete backstage production tasks as well.
Footlight is also funded by a generous financial gift from Kiwanis International, and individual donations to the Footlight Players fund of the Foundation for IUP.