Students Bre Studva, left, Shade Bullis and Calan Amos rehearse while Alice Walters is giving direction, in preparation for the Bowling Green Middle School Drama Club production of Ed Monk’s “Bedtime Stories (As Told by Our Dad) (Who Messed Them Up)” this weekend.
Eighth grader Alice Walters has started a drama club at Bowling Green Middle School.
“I have been acting and doing theater since age 5. My first time ever seeing a show I was 18 months old and theater has definitely been an outlet for me my whole life, and middle school is a challenging time for people,” Walters said. “I think the most fun is watching people’s faces light up when they get to rehearsal. Even if someone has had a bad day, when they get to rehearsal it’s a better environment for them.”
She had the idea to start a drama club in 6th grade.
The club students are all middle schoolers, grades six-eight, and 11 to 14 years old.
They asked Kim Stevens to be the official advisor and she agreed with the understanding that Walters would be running the meetings. Walters held audition workshops followed by auditions and she has a cast of 31 students for “Bedtime Stories (As Told by Our Dad) (Who Messed Them Up).”
The genre is called “fractured fairy tales” because the dad doesn’t remember the stories quite accurately.
The story is based on a father who tells his children bedtime stories, but gets each one a little bit wrong.
“I think it’s really fun. I just like hanging out with my friends and acting. I really like working with Alice,” said Calan Amos, who is 12 years old and has been acting for four years.
Fellow new actors are also enjoying the new club.
“It’s something that I haven’t done before and I’m all into artsy stuff. And it’s a form of art, and it seemed fun to me. I thought acting would be my cup of tea,” Bre Studva said.
“This whole genre of theater and acting, I’ve been really interested in it, but I’ve never gotten the chance to do it. I’m also really dramatic. My parents, when they heard there was a drama club, they gave me the whole ‘You’ve got do this.’ So, I thought maybe I’d try it. It’s really fun,” Shade Bullis said.
The administration and teachers are excited about this and have arranged for the play to be performed in an invited dress for the student body at 1:20 p.m. Thursday in the Performing Arts Center. Public performances will be Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Admission will be for a donation.
“I had a lot of people come to that first meeting, which blew me away,” Walters said.
The students also saw the need for the club, as there are now 31 middle school student actors with nine crew members, a much bigger response than expected.
Walters also gives credit to her friend Sam Gorsevski, who had “overwhelming faith in the both of us.” A first-time actor, he plays a prince in the play.
“There are many first time theater performers in the play, and their growth has blown me away and made me incredibly proud,” she said.
She got the blessing of Bowling Green High School drama teacher Jo Beth Gonzalez.
Stevens was then recruited as the club adviser. She’s also an eighth grade language arts teacher. She laughs about signing on to help out, because she has no theater experience.
“I thought it was going to be a few workshops, but it’s much bigger than that,” Stevens said. “Alice is an amazing person. She’s wonderful with the kids. I’m very impressed.”
Stevens said that some of the students have a little bit of experience through the Horizon Youth Theatre, which has also helped with props, theater tech issues and general encouragement.
“It’s much bigger. The show even has a dance number, choreographed by Emma Ferguson,” Stevens said.
Ferguson recently was in the high school’s musical “Little Mermaid.”
She added that the high schoolers have also been helpful.
“We’ve only really had two good weeks of practice, because spring break fell in there. I also find they have done a really good job of memorizing lines, knowing where the blocking is,” Stevens said.
