inside this issue:
University of Maine at Presque Isle Volume 42 Issue 12
And the Winners are... Details on page 26 & 27
Visit Tanzania! Details on page 13
Journalism for Northern Maine Visit us at utimes.umpi.edu
MAY 9, 2014
The Art of Success Bobbi Anne Wheaton CONTRIBUTOR
The lights come up and the curtains open. A young girl stands on the stage dressed in a tattered dress and a bright red wig. She starts to sing and the audience is instantly enveloped in yet another show at the Reach Performing Arts Center. The Reach Performing Arts Center is a privately funded 400-seat theater built inside the Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School. Founded in 2001, the Reach was originally built for the children as a way for them to experience the arts of theater, music and dance. It became much more than that. This state of the art theater houses both school and community
events, with participants from the ages of 4 to 84. Both children and adults have worked together to put on many shows over the last 13 years. These shows include “Fiddler on the Roof,” “The Sound of Music,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Oliver” and “Annie.” The children always get the first choice of parts in every production. The community fills up the rest. This gives the children the opportunity to interact with people they may not ordinarily have contact with, such as doctors and bankers. This theater has been very beneficial for students. Suzy Shepard, a Stonington resident who has been involved in every production for the last 12 years,
said, “It gives you a way to open up.” Since no one is a professional actor, everyone can come together through humor, sadness, laughter or dance. The do not need to be intimidated by what they can or cannot do. Everyone learns and grows together. Everyone is included. Cathy Boyce, a back-stage mom, said, “The inclusion of my special needs daughter, Angel, from the first production shown at the Reach to her current membership in the Cabin Fever Theater group, has given both her and me pure joy.” Shepard went on to say, “This is not Broadway. The public is forgiving. Everyone does the best they can do. It’s a lot of fun and very respectful.” At the end of
each show, everyone involved even takes down the stage and cleans up together. Children have shown that what they learn does not end when they leave the stage. They keep a passion with them that carries over into their regular schoolwork and the real world after graduation. Sue Steed, who was on the committee to build the theater and has worked backstage since it opened, tells about the wonderful changes she has seen in the children. The arts “help with listening and focus.” The children have better comprehension from listening to other characters, rewriting scenes and acting them out. They have “that willingness to take a risk or take your best shot
at it. It makes them a lifelong learner, which carries over into trying new things like different cuisines or new things in business.” Because a child has to be academically eligible to participate, it is also a great motivator. The Reach Performing Arts Center has been such a great success that more and more people are joining every year. Even people who were originally against building the theater have admitted to being wrong and have even taken part in several productions. As the theater finishes up the spring production of “The Pajama Game,” Suzy Shepard says, “It has changed people’s opinions and views. It is the best room in the building.” Encore!