×

Prairie Fire feeds passion for acting

Submitted photo Children, such as this group cast in a past production called “Jack and the Beanstalk,” have had a chance to engage their passion for acting with Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre for two decades.

NEW ULM — An annual summer program has fed the flames of students’ theater passions for two decades.

This year is the 20th anniversary of Healthy Community Healthy Youth (HCHY) hosting Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre. Auditions for the upcoming production of “Robin Hood” are 1 p.m. Monday, July 9, at the high school auditorium.

The performances are 7 p.m. Friday, July 13, and 1 p.m. Saturday July 14, in the auditorium. There is a $2 donation per person at the door.

“Robin Hood” has not been produced in New Ulm since HCHY Director Sheldon Rieke first took the position about a dozen years ago.

The program is for kids going into third grade up to kids going into ninth grade. Every child who auditions will get a role, though there is a limit of 84 kids in the show.

“They do have a limit because they can only haul so many costumes with them,” Rieke said. “And we have gotten close to it a couple of times, so there is a need.”

Prairie Fire sends two theater professionals out to each location for an intensive week of rehearsals before each show’s two-day run.

“The directors, they bring a lot of positivity and upbeat motivation and they definitely work on increasing your confidence, which is a cool experience — especially if you are super-duper shy,” Jessica Petersen, a recent high school graduate, said.

Veterans of Prairie Fire also pointed out how it was a good way to make friends in different school districts.

For participants who stuck with the program, it is where their love of theater was first ignited.

“I feel like that is why I love acting so much, because I got into Prairie Fire and I got into such a welcoming community that acting just seemed like the best thing ever,” Hannah Larson, a recent high school graduate, said.

Larson started with Prairie Fire in Willmar, where the program goes as young as second grade. She is going on to study fine arts at Minnesota State University, Mankato, after getting her generals at South Central College.

Despite the age restriction, the program has begun letting veteran players help younger kids back stage.

They work with children on memorization, make-up, costumes and set changes. They also aid in wrangling kids for entrances during performances.

“The kids, they like seeing teenagers and high schoolers because they are like ‘wow they did this? It must be cool,'” soon-to-be junior Katelyn Sarkar said.

The program started after a town survey distributed about 22 years ago indicated a need for more art-focused activities for kids.

Since then the program has remained popular among children. At times it was large enough the week broke into two separate sessions, one for older and one for younger kids.

“We see how these kids grow,” Rieke said. “A lot of people, this is their summer thing. We consistently put it the same week because families plan around it.”

The week-long program is regularly funded by Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council grants and donations from 3M.

To join the production, kids only have to show up on the day of auditions, though Rieke suggests signing up ahead of time to get ahead of some paperwork.

Contact Rieke to sign up by phone at (507) 354-8632 or via email at hchynua@newulmtel.net.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper?
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today