THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 11, 1996 TAG: 9607100111
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: AHOSKIE LENGTH: 60 lines
The titles are prophetic: ``It's Saturday'' and ``Wishes Come True.''
The Gallery Theatre Workshop for Young People productions will be presented Aug. 2 and 3. The plays fulfill the wishes of Hertford and Gates County show-business-minded youngsters.
The double feature will be the culmination of the annual workshop, which began July 1, and continues through Aug. 3.
The 56 performers, ranging from second-graders to 18-year-olds, are learning the basics of theater via the performance and production of the two mini-musicals.
The fare is light, the studying serious - and the youngsters love it.
``I want to make people laugh. It's fun,'' said 11-year-old Josh Nelson. ``I want to act.''
Workshop participants also learn about costuming, makeup, production, art, direction and the art of taking direction.
Anyone not interested in theater would find the schedule grueling, but the young participants see it as invigorating. They are there, Monday through Friday, all morning and part of the afternoon.
The workshop is a community effort, its instructors working for below minimum wage, almost entirely for the fun of it.
Workshop leaders are Catherine Charles and Janice Schreiber, the former a music teacher at Hertford County Middle School, the latter a drama teacher at Roanoke-Chowan Community College.
Joi Newsome, an art director, is an art teacher for the Gates County school system. Choreographer Kim Saad has a dance studio in Greenville. Some of the other instructors are veteran Gallery Theatre performers.
More community involvement is exhibited by several businesses, which take turns providing lunch for the workshop participants, who pay only $15 for the entire session.
The performances are co-sponsored by the Hertford County Extension Agency/North Carolina State University Humanities Extension which gave the theater $1,000, and the Ahoskie Lions Club which donated $500.
Most of the children involved have stars in their eyes, eyeing stardom on stage or screen.
Ryanne Nelson, 17, the lead performer in ``Wishes Come True,'' is taking a less secular route, hoping for a career singing sacred music.
Her 13-year-old brother, Jordan, is heading in the opposite direction.
``I want to be an actor, just like Jim Carrey,'' he said. ``He's crazy, and I'm crazy.''
Carrey's movies are becoming a Saturday staple for many of today's youngsters. ``It's Saturday'' spoofs them, as well as other things children like to do on that day.
``Wishes Come True'' is about a girl whose wishes are doing just that. It features real characters as well as some imaginary ones such as talking animals and trees.
Many of the workshop participants have some Gallery Theatre experience. Several appeared in the spring production of ``The Emperor's New Clothes.''
Annie Bradley, 10, whose experience has been limited to school and church plays, said, ``I like this. ``I like the way it's set up.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by FRANK ROBERTS
Ryanne Nelson, left, and Nathan Stroud star in ``Wishes Come True.'' by CNB