Theater Bug Bites Will County Family

If you’re looking for a Von Trapp family clone, look no further, the Hannig family from Coal City fits the bill.

Drive past their home and you might hear the sounds of Charlie Brown songs being sung by the Hannig kids.

Dad, Tim is a professional magician, Sacha is jack of all moms, keeping the household running while taking her kids to gymnastics and recently theater.

“Theater really started as a family experience 5 years ago with Tim (my husband), Cody and Avery being in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Curtain Call Community Theatre in New Lenox,” says Sacha. “Since that time we have had the opportunity to have our 5 oldest in shows together. Right after Lincoln was born, he was able to do some “voice work”, they needed a recording of a crying baby in The Miracle Worker in Morris.

Three of their seven children have been cast in the production of You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown. The whole family gets involved. It’s been that way since Tim and Sacha Hannig began their family.

“My husband is an award winning magician & entertainer who presents programs for schools, churches and corporate events. (pkshow.com) He’s also done several community theatre shows with the kids, which is how they got the acting bug. I am not involved in the performing aspect of his business but Tim always asks me for my opinion on new routines, which is fun because I am always getting to see new magic,” says Sacha.

When there were lack of good theater programs in Will County, Sacha brought theater close to home.

“ I helped bring Spotlight to Will County about 18 months ago. There was such a need for theater for kids in this area,” Sacha adds. “ Many kids just aren’t into sports and have found their “thing” yet.”

“The first time I got to see all the kids up on stage performing brought tears to my eyes. You could see that they had found a home and a love for theater. To see a shy child get up on stage and become their character and shine is just an awesome thing,” Sacha adds.

Oldest Cody, aged 15 has the lead of Charlie Brown. He explains the many levels of the character he plays.

“Charlie brown is a nervous, yet always optimistic kid, even though nothing ever works out for him.” Explains Cody. “ In order to truly understand his character I checked out an enormous amount of books of Peanuts comics. I realized through reading the comics that everyone has a little Charlie Brown in them, and also a little bit of Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, and Snoopy. That’s what is so great about the Peanut comics and our musical. Each character is an over-exaggerated character quality in our society today.”

Spotlight Director Ben Olson has enjoyed working with Cody and all the main characters to develop their singing.

“The most surprising element of this production is the complexity of the music. I don’t think one would predict the music in a show about a cartoon strip to be all that difficult, but it is definitely the most challenging aspect of this production. I did not initially realize how challenging it is until I cracked the score open and saw four part harmonies, some range busting notes, and about 8 different kinds of musical genres,” said Olson. “ Our talented kids do it all justice and I’m very proud of them and my vocal director Rachel for all of the work it has taken,” adds Olson.

There is a lot of inspiration in the Hannig family and always a family member with an understanding of performing arts.

“God and my family have inspired me the most in theater,” says Cody. “Five members of my family and I were in Oliver together-from my dad to my three year old sister, he adds. I enjoyed Les Misérables because it was honor and privilege to be in that musical, as over 100 people auditioned, and because that was a professional quality show, we even had a revolving stage.”

Younger sister Avery is just as talented as her older brother.

“In 2013 I had the opportunity to play Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker with Morris Theatre Guild, Avery says. “I learned so much about acting since her character has so many different layers. I couldn’t depend on my lines to help me portray my character because I only had one line at the very end of the show. She was also blind and deaf so I had to learn not to respond to sounds or react to things I saw,” adds Avery

Last year during the Narnia production at Stagg, Clayton Avery was the talk of the audience. He brought to life the character of Mr. Beaver.

“Mr. Beaver was my favorite role because it was the comedic role of the show and I got to try out different accents and facial expressions while playing the role of Mr. Beaver.”

As Sacha Hannig, prepares to volunteer for another show, the excitement of seeing Cody, Avery and Clayton onstage for another production doesn’t get old.

“ It’s totally awesome and nerve wrecking at the same time. We are really proud of our kids. Taking on a leading role in a musical is a huge time commitment and responsibility, especially balancing that with a full school course load. We are looking forward to seeing them on stage this weekend,” Sacha adds.

Tickets are on sale now. Please credit one of the Hannig kids, Cody Avery or Clayton when ordering tickets.

WHEN: January 16th – January 18th, 2015

Friday, January 16th – 7:00pm

Saturday, January 17th – 2:00pm

Saturday, January 17th – 6:00pm

Sunday, January 18th – 3:00pm

WHERE: Stagg Performing Arts Center, 8015 W. 111th Street, Palos Hills, IL.

TICKETS: 847-516-2298 or visit www.spotlight.org

$9-$12 presale, + $2 at the door

Group, child, and senior prices available

WHO: Spotlight Youth Theater is a non-profit, educational theater arts program for students 5-18 in the Aurora, Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kenosha (WI), Lake, McHenry, Milwaukee (WI), Oak Park, Orland Park, Rockford Metro, and Shorewood areas and has approximately 6,000 students per year. Each area offers summer camps and after-school classes in dance, voice, drama and theatrical specialties, and performs three fully staged musical productions per year. Spotlight is non-discriminatory and welcomes all children. Spotlight Youth Theater also offers an inclusion program, which assists students with special needs to participate in classes and productions.