all the world's a stage

TROLLWOOD PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL STUDENTS use their talents long after the lights go down

Words by Alicia Underlee Nelson | Photography by Dennis Krull, 5foot20 Design Lounge

Director

TThe young performers singing under the floodlights on the outdoor amphitheater stage and the black-clad technicians scurrying around behind the scenes are just some of the next generation of students who will be initiated into a very special performing arts institution this summer. Trollwood Performing Arts School celebrates its 38th anniversary in 2016. The program began as a youth arts enrichment program in Fargo back in 1978. It has since moved to the Bluestem Center for the Arts in Moorhead, where it continues to delight regional audiences, serve as a pillar of the local arts community, and provide a solid arts education to kids from age 6 through graduating seniors.

“Those deep roots continue as the foundation of everything we do today,” says Trollwood Performing Arts School Executive Director Kathy Anderson. “For 38 years, thousands of young people have spent their summers learning, growing and making friends at Trollwood.”

Most Trollwood students are from Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo and the surrounding communities, but the program’s reputation for excellence also attracts young artists from across the country, including the Twin Cities, Connecticut, Tennessee, and this summer, even a student from as far away as Norway. A Trollwood education helps prepare students for the rigors of working professionally and many alumni are actively working in the film, theater and television industries.

You’ll find former Trollwood students dancing, singing, teaching, stage managing, acting, directing and designing across the world, everywhere from community theater and collegiate stages to regional theater and the bright lights of Broadway. Trollwood alumni have appeared at Carnegie Hall, on television and in Hollywood films. And often they return to Moorhead to help train the next generation.

Trollwood Performing Arts School employs over 100 staff members each season, many of whom already have a connection to the program. “There is nothing quite as gratifying as hiring those students we trained to come back and be part of our staff,” says Anderson. “In 2015, 34 percent of our workforce were alumni of our programs.”

Those programs served 1,210 students last year. Trollwood Performing Arts School offers workshops, labs, children’s theater productions and, perhaps most famously, its well-known Mainstage Musical, which is presented as the sun sets over an outdoor amphitheater. “This program features a team of teenagers who stage a Broadway-style musical under the guidance of professional artists and present one of the region’s largest attended arts events,” says Anderson. “Last summer, over 23,000 people attended performances of ‘Mary Poppins.’”

This year’s Mainstage Musical offered a special treat for audiences, since the show was both a familiar favorite and new to the region. “This summer, we brought to life the underwater world of Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid,’” says Anderson. “The rights for ‘The Little Mermaid’ were released last fall, so we were one of the first full productions of this new musical to perform in our local area.”

The chance to see a beloved classic and take in a night of expertly produced musical entertainment is a win-win for musical theater fans and families alike. And the gently rolling hills and fresh air heighten the experience both for audience members and the kids who participate in the educational programs. “Many of these programs take place at the beautiful Bluestem Center for the Arts, where the connection to the natural environment fosters creativity, selfdiscovery and an understanding of a healthy living,” says Anderson.

Trollwood Performing Arts School educates children in the arts, but it also helps prepare them to live a productive, fully engaged life. And the Students at Risk (STAR) program makes sure that kids of all income levels are able to enjoy the Trollwood experience.

“No child is ever turned away from a program at Trollwood for their inability to pay, which is something our STAR program makes possible,” says Anderson. “It also brings mentors to students, provides meals, transportation and instructional supplies for those students in need.”

Trollwood’s Mainstage Musicals take place at the Bluestem Center for the Arts.

FOR MORE DETAILS about their latest production and other Trollwood Performing Arts School programs, go to trollwood.org.

Words by MARIE LASKA