It's a family affair at Children's Music Theatre

Ormond Beach Observer
Neighbors

Director has been leading workshop for 30 years.

Back stage at the Performing Arts Center one recent morning, there was the typical chaos of dress rehearsal. The sound of children warming up their voices wafted from an upstairs room as arriving actors were finding their costumes and getting their hair styled.

“It’s a creative process,” said Children’s Musical Theatre Workshop Director Cindy Simmons.

Currently, the group is finishing up a three-week summer camp with a performance of “The Music Man, Jr.,” to be performed at 7 p.m. July 24 at the Performing Arts Center.

Simmons has been turning hectic rehearsals into polished performances for more than 30 years.

She and some others started the workshop at the Nova Recreation Center in 1981 with five students, called the Starshine Kids. They moved into the Performing Arts Center and became a 501(c)3 in the 1990s, and now about 300 kids per year get involved.

The workshop is a family affair. Simmons’ daughter, Crisi, teaches ballet; daughter Jennifer, who works at an attorney’s office, is business manager; and son Stephen, who travels with a tour called Access Broadway, works on lighting and sound.

Simmons said she tries to have a family atmosphere, and help the children in ways other than the performance itself.

She said she makes an effort to keep kids from “getting too down” if they don’t get a part, and getting “a big head” if they get a big part.

If a child doesn’t get a part they want, she explains it’s a matter of casting, and the winner may just be better suited for it.

“We want them to be happy for each other,” she said.

Beth Oatway, who has two children, Victoria and Derek, in the current show, said the experience builds confidence in the kids.

“I wouldn’t have the confidence to go on stage and sing in front of people,” she said.

Oatway said she has seen kids “really come out of their shell,” during the training, and she gives a lot of credit to Simmons.

“She’s an awesome person who has endless patience,” Oatway said. “She makes it feel like a family. She’s done so much for the community.”

In the summer camp, about 40 children are taking part from throughout the area and even the U.S. Simmons said some children that visit relatives for the summer take part.

The workshop produces musicals throughout the year, and offers a variety of dance and theater classes from certified instructors. Some take part year-round, and some will take time off to play soccer or get involved in other activities, Simmons said.

This fall, the younger kids will perform “Aristocats” and the older ones will do “The Sound of Music.”

“They get training and have a good time,” she said. “They get to see what a Broadway show is and they learn how to audition.”

Also, this fall, the workshop will feature the Alumni Show they have every two years. People in the 30s, 40s and 50s, including some who now have children in the group, perform at the PAC to raise money for a scholarship fund that will help an underprivileged child take part in the program.

“It’s fun to see them again,” Simmons said. “And the teachers take part, so the kids get a chance to see us perform.”