Every spring, Texas A&M University-Kingsville\u2019s theater honor society, Alpha Psi Omega, puts on a children\u2019s show that is seen by practically every elementary student from Riviera to Alice, and Spring 2020 will be no different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alpha Psi Omega, APO, is having open auditions from 5 to 8 p.m., Nov. 11 and 12 at The Little Theater for their children\u2019s performance \u201cWho\u2019s Afraid of Little Red Riding Hood,\u201d by TAMUK\u2019s own Dr. Patrick Faherty. This play will be performed in the Jones Auditorium and will be directed by TAMUK student Devyn Hamblin next semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TAMUK has been performing children\u2019s shows since the very early 1950s which adds up to near 100,000 children having seen these dedicated performances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jones Auditorium was originally built during WWII and was designed to have a balcony, but money ran out. The balcony was removed from the design but not until after the rest of the auditorium already had been built. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since Jones Auditorium is essentially permanently incomplete, it presents acting challenges because the lack of balcony creates a dead zone right in the center of the theater where usually one finds the best seats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The performers of APO work around this during children\u2019s performances by using the whole auditorium as their stage. Using different exits to enter into the crowd not only gives interest to the children and story itself, but helps to eliminate the lack of sound in some areas of the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though the audience is almost completely compiled of children, this does not change the work put into each performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faherty has been with TAMUK for a long time and has been involved with the children performances for many years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese are sophisticated children\u2026so if you treat them like children-children, you\u2019re going to have them lose interest,\u201d Faherty said. \u201cYou have to treat them as people that already have a sense of what this is going to look like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The actors, from experience, understand what happens when you are not genuine. Laurie Guajardo Hoefelmeyer has been a part of these performances in the past and has children of her own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic with kids because you really can\u2019t phone it in, it\u2019s one of the best audiences you can have because they\u2019re so genuine,\u201d Guajardo Hoefelmeyer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Etta Enow has performed several children\u2019s shows and has been very popular with the children. When the children are able to shake hands and wave at the performers as they leave to their buses, it gives the actors a natural high one can only get from those glistening eyes of young children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs someone who\u2019s acted in lot of these children shows, the kids just make you feel larger than life, almost like a celebrity,\u201d Enow said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several TAMUK theater students have grown up in the area and are able to now be a part of this magic the children experience. The children\u2019s show in the Jones Auditorium is often the first theater experience local children will have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will be the first play Hamblin is directing on her own, and though she is nervous, she is thrilled to be a part of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI grew up in the area so I remember coming to see these children\u2019s shows as a kid\u2026I\u2019m really excited to help create some of that excitement for the kids,\u201d Hamblin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though the performance is designed for the local children, there will be an opportunity for anyone to come watch it on the Sunday following the children\u2019s performances. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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