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