'Little Rascals' will pave way for more kids' theater opportunities

Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and the rest of the Little Rascals made a surprise appearance Friday at the Encore 2009! fundraiser for the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights.

The cast of local children who starred in "Little Rascals" earlier this month, returned to reprise one of their musical numbers from the show, "Ain't She Sweet," for the theater's biggest supporters.

Audience members loved it. They cheered the young actors, seemingly as much for their characterizations as their song and dance number.

Turns out they were on to something. The musical was the first student show produced by the theater's Metropolis School of the Performing Arts, and it drew two sold-out audiences.

Annie Sisson Rezac, education director, says this was the first of what she hopes will be an annual spring production cast with students in their drama classes. It also fulfills their mission, she adds, which is to offer students performance opportunities in a professional setting.

This summer looks like more of the same, as they provide a series of camps for children, all led by working theater professionals.

"We're extremely lucky to have the resources of a performing arts center," Rezac says. "We have this deep pool of talent from all the shows we produce, to be able to find great teachers, who are all working actors, singers and dancers in the greater Chicago theater scene."

She points to the Curtains Up! camp, for kids ages 2-9, which will mount two shows: Disney's "Aladdin Junior" and "Beauty and the Beast Junior." Both will be choreographed by Tiffany Gates, a dance and voice teacher at Metropolis who recently appeared at the Lincoln Center in New York, as well as a variety of Chicago venues.

Cortney Lowinski will direct "Aladdin" during the first session. She earned her undergraduate theater degree from Loyola University in Chicago, before studying acting in London and Poland. Locally, she has appeared with numerous Chicago theater companies.

For high school students, the Summer Performance Experience camp will have them acting in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," under professional choreographer Kristen Gurbach Jacoboson, and director Robin Hughes.

Hughes serves as artistic director and director of production and casting at Metropolis. However, audiences know her best from the shows she has directed, including "A Christmas Carol," and "Lend Me a Tenor," after having appeared herself in shows at the Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens and the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, to name just a few.

Finally, Tali Allen, who directed the Little Rascals, returns as musical director for "Joseph," making the transition from Alfalfa and the gang to the Biblical story of Jacob and his 12 sons.

For information on summer camp offerings at Metropolis, visit www.metropolisarts.com.