Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 2, 1993 TAG: 9403180023
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARTHA W. WIESE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
They're all available in Roanoke, whose cultural amenities are in many ways remarkable for its size. And they're one of the main reasons people like to live here, and why people visit Roanoke.
How many other cities the size of Roanoke can attract the likes of Ray Charles to perform with its symphony? Or a Robert Fulghum to work with Mill Mountain Theatre to transform his stories into a production to go on a national tour with his new book?
But ... one has to look mighty hard to find any of the arts in our school systems. Many of our young people can't write a grammatically correct sentence, nor are they erudite enough to even speak or understand our beautiful language.
Whatever happened to the concept of a well-rounded education that includes a thorough grounding in reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as science, English, history and economics, to say nothing of literature, music, theater and art? As school budgets are squeezed, the area most often curtailed is the arts. What a loss!
It is not only the loss of the pleasure in viewing a painting, or hearing fine music, or attending the theater. It's a loss of a culture.
Theater, in particular, helps develop and expand our imagination. It's a fun way for us to learn the practical application of everything from history to memorization. It opens the mind as well as develops the body. People who have had theater training are better prepared for the requirements of adult and business life. It teaches discipline and teamwork, and builds confidence.
Besides, it's loads of fun. Just ask the kids who participated this year in Mill Mountain Theatre's Summer Drama Day Camp. They got a chance to sing like whales, write their own monologues about the sea creature they wanted to be, and then act out that creature for an audience.
Mill Mountain Theatre, like other arts organizations, is committed to exposing young people to the arts. Beginning with 8-year-olds, the theater provides two educational programs. In the summer, Mill Mountain runs two sessions (each a week long) of a drama day-camp for children in grades three through six. The goal of this professionally taught program is to introduce children to the fundamentals of stage performance by teaching the basic techniques of acting, movement, voice, musicaI theater and mask making. Some of their masks recently appeared in a display in the Arts Council window on Church Street.
The Youth Ensemble, another educational program of MMT, targets students in grades 8 through l2. It concentrates on rehearsal and performance techniques. Many of these youth appear in Mill Mountain Theatre's Main Stage and Theatre B productions. Several students - including Elizabeth Dressler, who recently played the lead in "42nd Street" - have gone on to professional careers in theater.
Mill Mountain Theatre also works with regional high schools, offering special morning performances of its annual "classic" play. An extensive teacher's manual is prepared by the theater staff to assist teachers in preparing students to view the production. Theater personnel and, when possible, actors and actresses go out to the schools for teaching sessions. In addition, the theater mounts a children's musical each year. Prices are kept low to enable the greatest number of children to attend.
But all these programs, although beneficial, are just a drop in the bucket. Of the 5l,495 children in the greater Roanoke Valley between the ages of 8 and 18, Mill Mountain Theatre estimates it reaches only from 4,000 to 5,000 per year.
The theater, like other arts organizations, would expand its educational programs if it could. We would like to implement an intern program for interested students in all areas of theater. Taking excerpts of shows into the schools and a reading stage for schools are other ideas. The limitation is funding.
Just buying tickets is not enough. A common misconception is that a theater doesn't need as much funding as non-charging arts organizations because it charges admission. Ticket prices, however, cover only approximately 40 percent of the cost of a production for non-musicals and an even lower percentage for musicals. The difference has to be made up through donations, grants and sponsorships. Government funding, which has been substantially reduced at all levels in recent years, will no longer be a major source.
Funding must be a local effort. If enough individuals support the arts, the diversity and high quality that Roanoke has come to take for granted can be maintained. Without broad support, not only can the theater not continue to mount lavish musicals, but the theater also cannot expand its educational programs to help offset the schools' limited programs. Without children being exposed to the arts, there will be no audiences in the future or participants in the other cultural activities that make Roanoke an attractive place to live and work.
Martha W. Wiese is director of marketing at Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke.
by CNB