The Regional in Theatre

The Round Barn Theatre and others toss around the term "regional" to describe themselves. Definitions vary among the same theatres, but here's proof that the impact of our theatre has broad impact across northern Indiana. Last Wednesday Willy Wonk Junior was presented by The Round Barn Theatre's Joseph Stein Young Actors Studio with an all-star cast of eighteen high school students from ten schools across northern Indiana.

The Willy Wonka Junior cast includes Nicole Tompkins from St Joseph High School, South Bend,; Tanner Smale from Elkhart Memorial; Tyler Miller, Ty Stutsman, Thomas Reid and Lance Mullins from NorthWood High School in Nappanee, Ann Thompson from Chesterton High School; Tom Eiser of Triton High School, Bourbon; Jon Tyree, Nancy Tyree, Camden Robertson, John Patrick, and Haley Jaggers from Plymouth; Alex Kilmer from Trinity Lutheran in Elkhart, Celina Davis of Warsaw, Susan Grothouse of Goshen, and Emily Reth of South Bend John Adams. The production is directed by Regina Warren, choreographed and costumed by Scott Saegesser, with musical direction provided by Amber Bontrager and lighting designed by Jeremy Littlejohn.

The buses came from Ligonier Elementary School, Teachers Home School, Elkhart; Tippecanoe Valley, Bourbon; Veritas Academy, South Bend; Trinity Lutheran, Elkhart; West Goshen Elementary; Schmucker Middle School, Granger; First Baptist Christian, Mishawaka; Battell Elementary, South Bend; Concord Southside Elementary; People Praise Home School, Elkhart; Buchanan Middle School, Michigan; Christian Haven, Wheatfield; Mayflower Apostolic School, South Bend; St John's Elementary, South Bend; and Christ the King, South Bend.

Each of these young students benefited from the experience of seeing and being seen in a professionally produced musical theatre show. Our experience show that at least one person in the audience or on the stage will choose to pursue a career in theatre as they mature; and to us, that makes it all seem worthwhile.