After a summer of mentoring in the visual arts, drama and music, youth involved in the Supporting Youth and Community through the Arts (SYCA) drop-in program presented a gift to their community - a production of The Wizard of Oz on the Bradford Arts Centre stage.
University students Rebecca Barak and Amelia DePiero were hired through a federal grant to provide mentoring and inspiration to the youth who dropped in three days a week over the summer. And SYCA, while slow to get started, built momentum, putting together a super cast that expanded to include younger siblings.
It was challenging, especially for those kids who had never been part of a musical production or appeared on stage in public before, but it was obviously fun – and that sense of fun shone through, as the young actors read from scripts directly adapted from the 1939 movie version of The Wizard of Oz.
They made their own sets and props, and although they had help with the costumes, it was largely a youth-led production.
Director of the Bradford Arts Centre, Jim Keenan introduced The Wizard of Oz at the centre on Aug. 29, with “a great deal of delight and joy… It’s always been an amazing, magical experience.”
And ‘magical’ describes the SYCA production. From the young siblings, who had to quickly change costumes as munchkins, flying monkeys, and guards of the Wicked Witch, to leads Rachel Bruce doing double-duty as Auntie Em and Glinda, Good Witch of the North, Nicole Hoben as both Elmira Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West painted a vivid green, and Kylee Morris as Dorothy, everyone captured their roles, despite limited rehearsal time.
And while most of the young actors read from scripts, several memorized their lines – and both Bruce and Morris tackled familiar tunes from The Wizard of Oz a cappella – including Dorothy’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which brought down the house.
The concept behind SYCA was simple, Keenan said: “If youth have a chance to go to a place where they can do what they want, and art is there,” they will be engaged and involved.
“The kids had a lot of fun putting this together,” said Barak.
“The costume changes were ridiculous,” added DePiero, with some of the youth playing multiple roles. “They’ve learned so much. I’m so happy to be part of this.”
SYCA’s summer program has wrapped up, but the SYCA drop-in program will continue in the fall, twice a week from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – offering mentoring by artists who have volunteered to share their talents in the visual arts, music, drama and voice.
“We have the resources in town. There are so many good artists, in so many genres” eager to participate, Keenan said. The Bradford Arts Centre hopes to offer the drop-in program for ages 14 and up starting in September – including youth-directed art activities, and a shared meal.
“This was just an experiment to see if art would bring kids together,” he said. The answer was a resounding yes, as youth and their mentors took a journey along the yellow brick road.
For more information on the Bradford Arts Centre, visit the website.
