COLUMN: Perry Players, Theatre Macon’s Youth Artists’ Company open youth-focused productions

With The Perry Player’s production of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” opening last night in Perry and Theatre Macon’s Youth Artists’ Company production of “The Complete History of America (abridged)” opening here tonight, there are a lot of kids on stage in Middle Georgia and plenty of great theater to see now and in the weeks ahead.

YAC’s “The Complete History of America (abridged)” is a Marx Brothers-style take on American history done in a whirlwind fashion. Production-wise, it’s a nine-member youth cast who take audiences from “Washington to Watergate … the Bering Straits to Baghdad … (and) New World to New World Order.”

Richard Frazier, Theatre Macon’s artistic director and director of the show, said to think of it as American history as told through the lens of “Saturday Night Live.”

“It’s high-energy sketch comedy and the cast is doing a great job,” he said. “They become more than 50 different characters and it’s amazing watching them morph through them all. It’s really a fun show.”

He said the production sets the scene for the rest of Theatre Macon’s season which they’re calling “Classically American.”

Ticketing and information for “The Complete History of America (abridged)” is at www.theatremacon.com. The comedy runs through Sept. 4 at 438 Cherry St.

On the other hand, the Perry Players’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” isn’t youth theater but anyone who knows the C.S. Lewis-based material knows its lead characters are four young siblings who are transported – via an old English wardrobe – into the fanciful land of Narnia with its talking animals, adventures and hard-won victories.

“This is by far the most technically challenging production I’ve ever done,” said director Hanna Kemp who is herself a very youthful 20 years old. “I guess I’ve made it hard on myself because we’ve added extra lighting and special effects and music that’s not usually done.”

Kemp said in addition, the Perry Players version features puppetry for some characters, something not done in standard community theater productions. For the most part, the extra music is original and written by Kemp and her brother, Christian Kemp.

Add to that the further difficulty the play comes right on the heels of Perry’s “1776” production which gave only three weeks of on-stage rehearsal time rather than the standard six.

“But I have faith,” she said earlier this week. “I believe it will all come together.”

The semi-dress rehearsal I saw Tuesday showed work to be done but at the same time dedication to it all happening by the first show Thursday. And Kemp said she had added reason to believe despite “all the obstacles I put in my own way by adding so many extra features.”

“I have such confidence in this cast even with three of the four lead characters being new to theater – this is their first show,” she said. “Aside from learning the play they had to learn all kinds of theater and acting jargon we throw around but they’re doing so good. I’m so proud of everybody.”

Kemp’s first directing role was for Perry Players’ version of “A Christmas Carol” two years ago. Even then, at 18, she wasn’t satisfied with a bare-minimum staging plan. Long-time Perry Players board member Jimmy Stricklen told me Kemp brought her own ideas for set design and costumes that gave a steam-punk look to the holiday classic.

“She might have been a little timid at the first rehearsal but quickly took her authority as director and got everybody on board carrying out her vision,” he said. “That’s an amazing ability for anybody – much less someone her age.”

Kemp took equal liberties with her next production, “The Play That Goes Wrong,” which features complicated set machinations as well as complex play-within-a-play comedic acting.

For the set to serve well and fall apart, she depended on the budget-effective DIY skills of her father, Chris Kemp, who also acts. The fact he’s a skilled electrician and owner-operator of HoCo Power didn’t hurt. Her mom, Lucy Kemp, also acts in her productions and serves as stage manager and fills other duties. Other family members, immediate and distant, do too. Her mother and father were also instrumental in creating the production’s puppets.

It is community theater, after all, and not only is Kemp obviously able to bring in new talent but it seems she also knows how to wrangle and inspire a team.

But to Kemp, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is special. It was the 2005 film “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” that inspired a very young Kemp to be an actor. She said she saw it, fell in love with the young lead character, Lucy, and wanted to have adventures of her own. Even though young, she knew those sorts of adventures were impossible but figured if she became an actor it would be the next best thing.

Funny how some things come full circle. Though her great love is film, she knew she could start acting and learning the craft by with local theater. In fact, while a youngster, she had a part in a Theatre Macon YAC’s production of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

But she grew to know one day she wanted to direct it for herself, doing it her way.

“I love that movie so much, and Lucy, and I guess one reason for all the extras is I wanted to make it as cinematic as possible,” she said. “It’s such a thrill to do it.”

And she’s thrilled the young actor playing little Lucy is Adele Milby who is one of those new to acting. During the rehearsal I saw, you’d never know she wasn’t a veteran or that she has her own story worth telling - a story that involves a malady when she was just a couple of years old that prevented her from walking well or balancing properly.

Now she’s on stage, lithe, daring and charming.

If you want to go, Perry is just a short distance but getting tickets may be the problem. Kemp said three shows quickly sold out and several are near sold out. Two added nights have been scheduled which takes the production through Sept. 4.

Ticketing is online only at www.perryplayers.org and you must use a regular computer, not a phone or device, if you want to pick particular seats versus being assigned seating. The playhouse is at 909 Main St., Perry.

After this, Kemp said she’s committed to one more Perry production then will take a break to return to her first love, acting. She’s already starred in an extended commercial/min-movie for a tech banking outfit, onjuno.com, had lead roles in a few indie films and had classes at the well-known Catapult Acting Studios in Atlanta.

“It’s nerve-wracking before we open,” she said returning to the current production, “but I’m already so proud of what we’re doing and we always see miraculous things come together last minute. I’m aware of a lot of hype around the show and how ticket sales are going, but I guess it’s my own love for this cast and the story that makes me want to give something extra. That keeps me going.”

Elsewhere in community theatre in the coming month, Macon Little Theatre presents “Murder on the Orient Express” Sept. 9-18 (www.maconlittletheatre.org) and Warner Robins Little Theater will offer “Death Trap” Sep. 23-Oct. 8 (wrlittletheatre.com).

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.