Kids theater troupe to celebrate new rehearsal space

It doesn't matter if children enrolled in Kidz Kabaret ever seek careers under the stage lights.

To Kandiss Hernandez, founder of the educational theater company in Naperville, the children's experiences acting, singing, dancing and clowning around in front of a packed house will serve them well in whatever career they pursue.

"Theater helps people connect," said Hernandez, herself a professional actor. "It allows a child to look into another child's eye and connect with them."

Hernandez started Kidz Kabaret in her Naperville backyard five years ago with about 18 students.

Since then, the nonprofit organization's popularity has zoomed. About 280 children, ages 5 to 20, are involved in the company today, traveling from as far as Tinley Park and St. Charles.

"This summer we tripled (from about 100)," she said. "There's such a need for kids to perform. There's such a passion for it."

To accommodate the growing clientele, Kidz Kabaret moved in September to a new, 5,000-square-foot rehearsal space on Quincy Avenue.

An open house, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and visit from Naperville Mayor George Pradel, will run from 3:30 to 8 p.m. today to mark the move.

Hernandez said members from the cast of "Grease," Kidz Kabaret's most recent production, will perform numbers from the show. Performances from the company's younger members will follow, along with a karaoke session and snacks.

The company allows anyone interested in trying theater to join.

"We're a non-audition theater company," Hernandez said.

She started it, she said, when she saw how disappointed her daughter, Megan, was when she was turned down for a role in fifth grade.

Hernandez wrote a show called "Manhattan Review," built a set featuring the New York skyline in her backyard and rehearsed the show with a cast that included her daughter and about 18 of her friends. The backyard performance drew about 80 audience members.

Before long, Kidz Kabaret was performing in the theater space then occupied by Crossroads Theater at 22 E. Chicago Ave. in Naperville, while still using Hernandez' home for rehearsals.

"They had us come in as their children's theater," Hernandez said.

The Chicago Avenue theater, currently home to the Comedy Shrine, continues to serve as a performance space for Kidz Kabaret.

"We do about 25 productions there a year," she said.

The new digs on Quincy Avenue, Hernandez said, includes classrooms, rehearsal rooms and a costume shop.

"It's able to seat about 100," she said. "We are building a portable stage so these kids understand what it's like to be on a stage."

After the company's rehearsal needs outgrew Hernandez' home, the group moved to a warehouse on Fifth Avenue.

"It served a purpose for us. It gave us a home for a year," she said.

The new rehearsal space was acquired with the help of a $50,000 grant from the city's special events and cultural amenities fund, Hernandez said, a boost for which she is grateful.

"Funds are very tight in the arts," she said.

The organization also relies on corporate sponsorships to pay the bills.

Home Depot, for example, recently pledged to help fund the build-out of a costume shop in the new Kidz Kabaret space.

Hernandez said she is amazed by Kidz Kabaret's success.

"Kidz Kabaret has been in Naperville for five years," she said. "We've basically grown by word of mouth."

If you go

What: Kidz Kabaret open house

When: 3:30 to 8 p.m. today

Where: 1665 Quincy Ave., Naperville

Info: (630) 355-9212 or kidzkabaret.com