Doin’ It For the Kids

Every year, the yearlong efforts of Boston-area schoolchildren culminate in an end-of-the-year extravaganza called KIDSHOW. The performance is coordinated by STAGE (Student Theater Advancing Growth and Empowerment), an after-school program that works at five different sites in and around Boston.

In the group, Harvard undergraduate volunteers try to teach children important life skills through a performing arts curriculum.

“Theater is this really powerful tool, not just for performing arts,” says former STAGE President, current board member, and after-school volunteer Christopher W. Lawton ’07. “Kids are learning a skill-set that everyone can apply to their life.”

This year’s KIDSHOW will take place on Saturday, May 5 at 3 p.m. in the Agassiz Theater. It will feature five original short plays, one by each of STAGE’s site groups. Intended for all ages, the show is free, open to the public, and followed by a celebration to award the children for their hard work and dedication.

“The kids write the shows themselves,” says Sarah K. Satinover ’08, STAGE’s former President, the board’s current social chair, and a continuing volunteer. “It’s completely their own original work.”

Around 60 children participate in STAGE’s afterschool program, as well as over 20 undergraduate volunteers from Harvard.

“The sites are selected because they have suffered from cuts in arts funding, specifically in theater arts,” Lawton says.

An additional component of the program is an on-campus musical, performed by undergraduates, that raises money for the program and also offers the children a chance to learn from the experience of Harvard’s actors. STAGE’s on-campus musical this year is the off-Broadway classic “The Fantasticks,” and actors were chosen through the semesterly Common Casting process.

“Proceeds from that show benefit the kids program,” says Lawton. “Students who are cast in that show make a commitment to spend this Saturday, this rehearsal day, working with the kids.”

KIDSHOW also serves as encouragement to its young aspiring actors. “Afterwards, we have a big barbecue reception for the parents, the audience, and the kids,” says Satinover. “The pride that they feel afterwards is so incredible.”