Wagon Wheel Jr. Creates Friendships, Fun Shows
January 25, 2017 at 8:01 p.m.
Wagon Wheel Jr. Creates Friendships, Fun Shows
By David [email protected]
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Abigail Koorey, a homeschooled senior, and Callen Hoskins, a Warsaw seventh-grader, didn’t know each other before getting involved with Wagon Wheel Jr., but now the two have become good friends.
Theirs is the type of friendship participants, parents and show directors say is built through the theatrical productions starring local young talent.
In the upcoming Jr. production of “Haphazardly Ever After,” Koorey plays Queen Mildred, who is frustrated about her four bratty children. Hoskins plays Prince Slacker, one of the queen’s kids, who “sits on the couch, gets on my phone and sleeps a lot,” he said. Hoskins said he was only “kind of” like his character.
The musical will be performed at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Feb. 4. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased by calling 574-267-8041 or 866-823-2618; visiting the website at wagonwheelcenter.org; or at the box office at the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts at 2515 E. Center St., Warsaw.
Abigail has been involved in Wagon Wheel Jr. for about two years, while Callen is in his third year.
“I like everything about it, it’s fun. At the end of the performance, it’s fun, you get that final conclusion and you feel so good about your performance. In the meantime, sometimes it’s really nerve-wracking. I get super nervous before the shows, but it’s all worth it at the end. And the cast is really fun. We’re like a big family at the end,” Abigail said.
Callen stated, “Being with your friends is probably half of the whole program, which is making friends and having a good time, and becoming a big family. And the shows are super fun because you get to go out of your comfort zone and be a different person, which is really fun.”
Leah Hoskins, Callen’s mother, said having kids involved in Wagon Wheel Jr. has been “a privilege and a blessing because our community has something for the ages before they reach high school and can be involved in theater. They can do things outside of sports, which seems like there’s a lot of things for younger kids sports-wise, but in the arts there’s not as much, so this has been awesome for them to be able to have an opportunity to see if this is an interest, something they like to do, or not, and get experience, be taught really well by professional directors.”
Callen isn’t the first Hoskins to go through the program. His older siblings, Cole and Chloe, also have participated.
Konda Koorey, Abigail’s mom, said the Jr. program has been amazing for her daughter.
“It’s amazing because it’s such a great outlet for us. She had no training coming into this, but loved music since she was months old. So it’s been wonderful to have professional teachers and the enthusiasm. I know Abigail loves every moment of it,” Konda said.
Abigail had tried out several times for the shows but didn’t make it in, but once she did, she realized what an opportunity it was and didn’t take it for granted, Konda recalled.
“They work so hard. (Wagon Wheel Artistic Director) Scott (Michaels) and Jen (Dow) and Kira (Lace Hawkins), they’re so efficient with the time. They really push the kids. They don’t waste your time, but it’s just so much fun,” she continued.
Hawkins is directing “Haphazardly,” with Michaels choreographing. Dow is the production stage manager and assisting Hawkins. While those three long-time Wagon Wheel veterans teach the material, Jacki Andersen is the tech director, Elisa Wise is the costume coordinator and Tom Stirling is the musical director.
Parents get to have fun, too.
“The parents are just as involved as the kids,” Dow said. “Honestly, we actually look forward to the parents. They bring snacks. They bake for us. Sometimes they prepare meals for us. They help paint the set. They help with the props. They help sew hems on costumes. Honestly, we put a lot of pressure on the parents to get involved as much as their kids, but I think the parents feel just as rewarded being part of the program as the kids do, so I just want to give a shout-out to the parents because it’s a big deal for us to have them.”
When a show ends, Leah said all the kids are really sad it’s over. “They know they won’t see those kids every day again, and they just become really close and have lots of fun, but all toward a certain goal and purpose ... they do get sad. They do have lots of fun together. But there’s always the next show,” she said.
In “Haphazardly Ever After,” the king and queen try everything to bring happiness and harmony to their family. The king and queen call upon the fairy godmother to help. However, after learning the outrageous cost of hiring the fairy godmother, the king and queen decide to create a do-it-yourself fairy tale with the help of supplies purchased at The Enchanted Depot. Nothing goes as planned, but everyone is changed by their experiences, according to a brief synopsis of the show.
Dow said the show is hilarious and, like every fairy tale, it has a happy ending.
“There might even be a wedding involved,” she said.
With shows like “Haphazardly,” the program is growing and going great, Dow said.
“We’re well into our fifth season. It was 2012 when we started,” she said. “It’s becoming a well-oiled machine, and we do it so quickly on purpose. We try to cram it into 2-1/2 weeks where we teach the show, we tech the show and then it’s done. That’s why there’s such great withdrawal that the kids were talking about.”
The short time frame is done purposely so it doesn’t become a giant time commitment since kids often so many obligations, Dow said.
“We also do that because that’s how fast we teach the professional shows, and it’s kind of a good glimpse into how fast and how hard you have to work to accomplish this great thing,”?Dow said.
For her, she said one of the things they like to instill most in the kids is a good work ethic.
“They have to work so hard to memorize those lines so quickly. They have to help with painting, and they have to help with their costumes, and then we put the show up and then we’re done. It’s awesome,” she said.
There are 28 kids in “Haphazardly,” but a typical Jr. show will have as many as 32 actors involved. There’s constantly new kids in the shows, while some “veterans” are incorporated to serve as role models.
Auditions for the next show are coming up, which hadn’t been announced as of last week. Dow said those dates and times will be on the website, wagonwheelcenter.org.
“But to get involved, you can also go to [email protected] and get on our database. From that database, we actually send blasts out about how to get involved in classes and the actual performances of the Wagon Wheel Jr. shows,” she said.
Eventually, Wagon Wheel Jr. will have a webpage of its own.
Some of the Jr. participants go on to perform in a Wagon Wheel professional show, and sometimes a young actor in a professional show will join a Jr. show. Dow pointed to Abigail, who has been her wig intern for two years now and in a few professional shows, as well as Callen, who was in the Christmas show.
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Abigail Koorey, a homeschooled senior, and Callen Hoskins, a Warsaw seventh-grader, didn’t know each other before getting involved with Wagon Wheel Jr., but now the two have become good friends.
Theirs is the type of friendship participants, parents and show directors say is built through the theatrical productions starring local young talent.
In the upcoming Jr. production of “Haphazardly Ever After,” Koorey plays Queen Mildred, who is frustrated about her four bratty children. Hoskins plays Prince Slacker, one of the queen’s kids, who “sits on the couch, gets on my phone and sleeps a lot,” he said. Hoskins said he was only “kind of” like his character.
The musical will be performed at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Feb. 4. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased by calling 574-267-8041 or 866-823-2618; visiting the website at wagonwheelcenter.org; or at the box office at the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts at 2515 E. Center St., Warsaw.
Abigail has been involved in Wagon Wheel Jr. for about two years, while Callen is in his third year.
“I like everything about it, it’s fun. At the end of the performance, it’s fun, you get that final conclusion and you feel so good about your performance. In the meantime, sometimes it’s really nerve-wracking. I get super nervous before the shows, but it’s all worth it at the end. And the cast is really fun. We’re like a big family at the end,” Abigail said.
Callen stated, “Being with your friends is probably half of the whole program, which is making friends and having a good time, and becoming a big family. And the shows are super fun because you get to go out of your comfort zone and be a different person, which is really fun.”
Leah Hoskins, Callen’s mother, said having kids involved in Wagon Wheel Jr. has been “a privilege and a blessing because our community has something for the ages before they reach high school and can be involved in theater. They can do things outside of sports, which seems like there’s a lot of things for younger kids sports-wise, but in the arts there’s not as much, so this has been awesome for them to be able to have an opportunity to see if this is an interest, something they like to do, or not, and get experience, be taught really well by professional directors.”
Callen isn’t the first Hoskins to go through the program. His older siblings, Cole and Chloe, also have participated.
Konda Koorey, Abigail’s mom, said the Jr. program has been amazing for her daughter.
“It’s amazing because it’s such a great outlet for us. She had no training coming into this, but loved music since she was months old. So it’s been wonderful to have professional teachers and the enthusiasm. I know Abigail loves every moment of it,” Konda said.
Abigail had tried out several times for the shows but didn’t make it in, but once she did, she realized what an opportunity it was and didn’t take it for granted, Konda recalled.
“They work so hard. (Wagon Wheel Artistic Director) Scott (Michaels) and Jen (Dow) and Kira (Lace Hawkins), they’re so efficient with the time. They really push the kids. They don’t waste your time, but it’s just so much fun,” she continued.
Hawkins is directing “Haphazardly,” with Michaels choreographing. Dow is the production stage manager and assisting Hawkins. While those three long-time Wagon Wheel veterans teach the material, Jacki Andersen is the tech director, Elisa Wise is the costume coordinator and Tom Stirling is the musical director.
Parents get to have fun, too.
“The parents are just as involved as the kids,” Dow said. “Honestly, we actually look forward to the parents. They bring snacks. They bake for us. Sometimes they prepare meals for us. They help paint the set. They help with the props. They help sew hems on costumes. Honestly, we put a lot of pressure on the parents to get involved as much as their kids, but I think the parents feel just as rewarded being part of the program as the kids do, so I just want to give a shout-out to the parents because it’s a big deal for us to have them.”
When a show ends, Leah said all the kids are really sad it’s over. “They know they won’t see those kids every day again, and they just become really close and have lots of fun, but all toward a certain goal and purpose ... they do get sad. They do have lots of fun together. But there’s always the next show,” she said.
In “Haphazardly Ever After,” the king and queen try everything to bring happiness and harmony to their family. The king and queen call upon the fairy godmother to help. However, after learning the outrageous cost of hiring the fairy godmother, the king and queen decide to create a do-it-yourself fairy tale with the help of supplies purchased at The Enchanted Depot. Nothing goes as planned, but everyone is changed by their experiences, according to a brief synopsis of the show.
Dow said the show is hilarious and, like every fairy tale, it has a happy ending.
“There might even be a wedding involved,” she said.
With shows like “Haphazardly,” the program is growing and going great, Dow said.
“We’re well into our fifth season. It was 2012 when we started,” she said. “It’s becoming a well-oiled machine, and we do it so quickly on purpose. We try to cram it into 2-1/2 weeks where we teach the show, we tech the show and then it’s done. That’s why there’s such great withdrawal that the kids were talking about.”
The short time frame is done purposely so it doesn’t become a giant time commitment since kids often so many obligations, Dow said.
“We also do that because that’s how fast we teach the professional shows, and it’s kind of a good glimpse into how fast and how hard you have to work to accomplish this great thing,”?Dow said.
For her, she said one of the things they like to instill most in the kids is a good work ethic.
“They have to work so hard to memorize those lines so quickly. They have to help with painting, and they have to help with their costumes, and then we put the show up and then we’re done. It’s awesome,” she said.
There are 28 kids in “Haphazardly,” but a typical Jr. show will have as many as 32 actors involved. There’s constantly new kids in the shows, while some “veterans” are incorporated to serve as role models.
Auditions for the next show are coming up, which hadn’t been announced as of last week. Dow said those dates and times will be on the website, wagonwheelcenter.org.
“But to get involved, you can also go to [email protected] and get on our database. From that database, we actually send blasts out about how to get involved in classes and the actual performances of the Wagon Wheel Jr. shows,” she said.
Eventually, Wagon Wheel Jr. will have a webpage of its own.
Some of the Jr. participants go on to perform in a Wagon Wheel professional show, and sometimes a young actor in a professional show will join a Jr. show. Dow pointed to Abigail, who has been her wig intern for two years now and in a few professional shows, as well as Callen, who was in the Christmas show.
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