Danville: New youth theater company has can-do attitude

I Can Do That Theatre Company presents Youth production of
Bye Bye Birdie Feb. 24th - Mar. 5th
Fridays at 8:00pm
Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
For More Info: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2601426

East Bay Times

DANVILLE — Ask Contra Costa natives Shayna Ronen and Jarusha Ariel about

their best childhood memories, and they don’t hesitate; the two best friends met

and grew up performing with the Belasco Theater Company in Walnut Creek,

learning the challenges and joys of performing musical theater.

Now, years later, the two have reunited to bring that experience to a new

generation of East Bay youth. They’ve created the nonprofit I Can Do That youth

theater company, performing “Bye Bye Birdie,” its first major production, at

Danville’s Village Theatre.

I Can Do That youth theater members sing and dance during

rehearsal at a studio in Danville ahead of their debut performance at

the Village Theater. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

The new company is in part an homage to the women’s longtime mentor, Ed

Belasco, a musician, actor and musical theater director who for years operated

the Belasco Theater company in Walnut Creek.

“He made each kid feel so loved and encouraged and seen, but he was really a

slave driver and worked us hard,” recalled Ronen, who is from Walnut Creek and

now lives in Dublin. “What it created were these awesome shows where we felt

so proud of ourselves at the end, because we had worked so hard to put them on.

It was so transformative for Jarusha and I.”

After the women graduated from high school, they traveled to college in New

York together. Ronen studied psychology, linguistics and philosophy, while

Ariel, who was raised in Orinda and now lives in Oakland, studied acting, going

on to act professionally in multiple venues.

Their lives took different directions for a decade, until the two finally began

discussing their shared dream of opening a theater company. Their mentor,

Belasco, died in the summer of 2015.

“We went to his funeral, and a couple of days after that Jarusha came to my

house and said ‘We can’t just talk about this anymore; Ed would tell us to get up

and make it happen.’ We started putting one foot in front of the other.”

The company — named after the inspirational song from “A Chorus Line” — now

operates from a studio at Danville’s Town and Country shopping center, with

performances held at the Village Theatre. Two stage shows will be produced

yearly, along with a summer workshop program.

Students currently range in age from 7 through 16, but Ronen and Ariel hope

eventually to include students up to age 18. Each rehearsal will be an

opportunity for the young actors to hone not only their singing and dancing but

also their self-awareness and interpersonal skills.

“Every scene and every song is an opportunity to sit with cast members and ask

‘What’s going on with this character?’ ” Ronen explained. “The kids have to do

tons of self-reflection, which is very different from something like soccer. We

encourage and empower them to understand the characters and interact with

the other characters. Not just memorize the lines, but make it real for

themselves every time. You don’t want to get bored. Each interaction isn’t the

same every time. You’re birthing something new every time.”

The rehearsal process focuses on helping the young actors understand the

personal motivations and interplay of all the characters, skills that easily

translate to life off the stage, said Ariel.

There’s something magical about theater; it requires you to look within yourself

and to touch on emotions you might not otherwise and to share those

expressions with your classmates,” she said. “You have to put yourself in

another person’s shoes, whoever you’re playing, and connect it to something in

your life. It can be very therapeutic. Some teens are going through rough times,

and absorbing a role that way can be an outlet ... this provides a safe place for

anyone who may have a little more trouble fitting in or with lower confidence.”

Morgan Rountree, 15, of Alamo is a company member who’s always loved

dramatics but was anxious upon joining the group.

“I went there on the verge of tears,” she recalled. “But the longer I’m with the

company the more they’ve helped me with that, the more confident I’ve

become. I’m more OK being myself.

“There’s no one that would not benefit from this,” Rountree added. “It helps

with public speaking skills or if you just want to get into a great community of

people who will accept you no matter who you are.”

The company’s positive environment and high expectations have proved the

perfect environment for her daughter, said Morgan’s mother, Jessica Rountree.

“It’s amazing what they bring out of them, a wave of expression,” she said.

“She’s met an amazing group of people, a community, almost. She’s quiet with

her peers, but onstage — it’s wow.”

The company’s goal, Ronen said, is not to train professional actors, but to

nurture a love of the art and encourage confidence and self-expression. All

company members have speaking parts in all productions, although each must

audition for roles. In today’s world of digital communication, the program

places emphasis on interpersonal communication and the pleasure of seeing

hard work come to fruition.

“In some ways we feel like we’re helping kids to realize they can get a positive

feeling interacting with each other, and you get addicted to that, being playful

and expressive and getting up in front of a crowd and getting the audience to go

crazy for you,” she said. “We keep the bar high, because they jump over it ...

When they work so hard and see everything they’ve accomplished and their

parents see everything they’ve accomplished, they know they’re a part of

something different.”

Ronen, the company’s theatrical producer, and Ariel, its artistic director, said

they hope the company will serve its own students and the community at large.

“We want to encourage the community to get out and go to dinner in downtown

Danville and then go see a show,” Ronen said. “We really believe we’re not just

great youth theater, but great theater, and we think the shows will be

entertaining to a wide audience. We want the community to rally around theater

and the arts and get the kids to connect.”

If You Go

The I Can Do It theater company will present “Bye Bye Birdie” Feb. 24 through

March 5 at the Village Theatre, 233 Front St. in Danville. Curtain times are 8

p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $20 for

general admission and $15 for children younger than 5 and are available on the

group’s website, www.brownpapertickets. com/event/2601426. Children younger

than 2 will get in for free.

By BETH JENSEN |

PUBLISHED: February 10, 2017 at 6:00 am | UPDATED: February 10, 2017 at 6:22 am