When the curtains closed last month on Renton Christian School’s (RCS) production of Mary Poppins, the cast of 11 didn’t take their last bow and get back to the daily grind. Instead they got on a plane headed for California to compete in the Musical Theater Competitions of America (MTCA).
MTCA is a prestigious event for middle school and high school students, complete with workshops and competitions in various fields of musical theater. Not only was it the first time RCS was participating in the competition, it was also the first time a group from Washington was competing.
“Drama programs aren’t very developed in our area because it’s an after-school program and its competing against sports,” said Director Laura McGinnis. “We don’t compete with sports.”
What’s unique about the production-based program at RCS is that it is an elective offered to seventh- and eighth-grade students. The program produces two big shows each semester in which each student is guaranteed a spot.
“It’s open to anyone, so no matter what, you’re in the show,” said McGinnis. “They get to explore dancing, acting and singing. They all have do it. We make a big show of what we get.”
“The cool thing about this program is that a lot of these kids don’t know that they can sing, they don’t know they can dance, they don’t know that they can act. These kids get to (explore) because they already know they’re in the show. We just work on them on building their confidence and their abilities.”
Take eighth-grader Truman Bjarke for example. A year ago, Bjarke didn’t sing or dance. But after performing at MTCA as Bert from Marry Poppins, Bjarke won Best Dancer in the ensemble category.
“It was pretty exciting to hear my name called out,” said Bjarke. “Especially since they got my name right.”
That wasn’t the only award they won; RCS won second place in the ensemble category and second place in the duets category.
“Our little school, with our tiny ensemble group had come in second place competing with huge theater groups and large junior high schools from across the country – most of them whom have spent a year preparing for this competition,” said McGinnis. “We were definitely the little school that could, and did!”
McGinnis said that they didn’t expect to win since it was their first time at a competition, and especially because they had less than a week to prepare.
“We knew our kids were talented and what they were capable of, but we didn’t understand how the competition aspect worked because we’ve never done that before,” she said. “We went there not knowing what to expect and thinking, ‘We’re here for the experience’ and it was really an amazing experience. They learned to take some criticism and suggestions on how to do things better, and the kids took it really well. It was hard but they took the suggestions and they improved their performances.”
While McGinnis attributes the group’s success to the students’ deep understanding of their character, it is more a reflection on a strength of the theater program. McGinnis and her team is keen on teaching the students technical skills like acting, dancing and singing, but also deeper values that shape the students’ understanding of themselves and the world.
McGinnis says it quite prolifically, “Theater is not just a class. It is an opportunity for the students to learn about themselves and each other, to try on different “hats” to learn who they are, and who they want to be. It is where junior high students – who spend their days in fear that they are different and in fear they will be laughed at – learn that the very things they fear are embraced in theater, and in fact, encouraged.”
