Make your bed, learn to act: Alabaster children’s theater teaches both
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What does making your bed have to do with theater arts? Kids who participate in Mary McCormack’s Alabaster Children’s Neighborhood Theatre find out right from the start.
At a Jan. 7 introductory session for an upcoming class series on “The Little Mermaid,” McCormack asked participants who had made their beds that morning, and what it had taught them.
After a few joking responses, like “so I can mess it up again,” McCormack called on 12-year-old Brent Bryner of Irwin.
Brent relayed some wisdom he’d gathered from a military man, a friend of his father’s:
“When you get up in the morning and make your bed, you’ve already succeeded at one thing, and that helps your whole day go better,” he said.
In addition to helping children ages 5-12 develop their singing, dancing and acting talents, McCormack uses the program as a vehicle to foster self-confidence and instill values such as gratitude, compassion, teamwork and leadership.
Bed-making is a simple act that can teach a lesson in goal-setting and self-discipline, she says.
Self-discipline leads to self-motivation, which helps with developing organizational skills, which leads to a greater sense of being in control of one’s life. That’s where self-confidence comes in.
Defense against bullying
Feeling good about one’s self can be the first line of defense against bullying, another issue the Greensburg resident takes very seriously.
McCormack founded the professional Alabaster Theatre in 1991 and has performed for more than a half-million people locally, around the United States and internationally. Many of her performances feature a five-member musical ensemble.
Her children’s theater performance classes grew out of bullying prevention assemblies she began offering to area schools in the early 2000s, she says.
“I’m just horrified by incidents we continue to hear about in schools,” she says. “I want to give children the skills to rise above that. Our culture is saturated with negative messages in videos and song lyrics, and it desensitizes kids and adults. Event cartoons are disrespectful. Our comedy promotes degrading and disrespectful messages about ourselves and other people.
“We’re not mincing words here — kids are murdering people in video games,” she says. “The reaction on my part is not to be afraid or to sit around and talk about it, but to do something.”
Powerful vehicle
“The performing arts are an extraordinarily powerful vehicle for growing a successful, happy, confident child,” McCormack says. “It helps with focus, goal-setting and illuminating personal talents and skills.
“When you know who you are and what you’re all about, you portray confidence. You don’t become bully-proof, but it helps you rise above peer pressure,” she says.
Conversely, she says, performing in an ensemble teaches children the value of teamwork, making them more likely to empathize with others and to want to help them succeed.
McCormack’s Christian faith comes through in the children’s classes, which begin and end with a prayer of thanks to God for His blessings.
“When we first came, we saw that there was a bit of a church message,” says Brent Bryner’s father Butch, whose 9-year-old son Braden also is a member of the troupe. “We weren’t looking for that, but it’s been nice to find. We’re Catholic, but it wouldn’t matter if we were Jewish — it’s just a great message of personal responsibility and sticking up for each other.
“You aren’t running into any theater moms here. Nobody is trying to turn their kid into the next (Barbra) Streisand or Zac Effron,” he says. “It’s just kids having fun. We’ve actually told some other people about it, and it says a lot about a program if you’re willing to mention it to your friends.”
“It brings the kids out of their shells and boosts their self-confidence,” says Erin Rosenberry of Trafford, whose 6-year-old daughter Laney is starting her third Alabaster class series. “(Laney) doesn’t go to school with any of these kids, but that doesn’t bother her. They’re all friends here.”
New class series
McCormack offers Alabaster Children’s Neighborhood Theatre classes at three locations, offering families throughout the area alternatives to going into Pittsburgh for similar programs. Each class series consists of rehearsals for a production that is presented to family, friends and members of the public during the final class session.
Next up is “The Little Mermaid,” for which McCormack says she has crafted a “simple, child-appropriate script that incorporates some of the well-known songs,” running about 45 minutes.
Classes meet 6-7:30 p.m. Dates and locations include:
• Mondays, Jan. 21-March 11, at St. David’s Episcopal Church, 901 E. McMurray Road, Peters Township
• Tuesdays, Jan. 22-March 12, at Norwin Church of the Nazarene, 110 Clay Pike, North Huntingdon
• Wednesdays, Jan. 23-March 13, at New Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2225 Grandview Ave., Monroeville
Fee is $235 for the class series.
And along with asking if they’ve made their beds, McCormack says she’ll make sure that remembering scripts, water bottles and other class-related items is part of the drill for the students, and not their parents.
Details: 724-516-5189 or alabasterperformingarts.org
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley at 724-836-5750, smcmarlin@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shirley_trib.