'Frozen Jr.' to take stage

FOSTORIA — Ashley Dawson has a way of taking 20-some random children and adolescents, getting them to memorize a script, work well with one another, sing songs in front of an audience and do it all in a such a cohesive way that an entertaining product comes together.This is her fifth year of doing just that with the Geary Family YMCA's Musical Theatre Camp in Fostoria, during which youngsters work under the direction of Dawson and her selected assistants before presenting shows to the public.This year's fifth-anniversary production is "Frozen Jr.," a shortened version of the smash 2013 Disney film and its subsequent Broadway musical, which tells the story of two princess sisters who find themselves on opposite sides as one of them struggles to control her magical powers."Frozen Jr.," is scheduled to be presented at 5 p.m., Aug. 2 and at 3 p.m., on Aug. 3, in Fostoria Junior/Senior High School's Wainwright Performing Arts Center. Tickets are priced at $10 each and are available at the YMCA, 154 W. Center St., and may also be purchased at the door on the show days. Tickets for the performances, a 50-50 drawing and a raffle of figurines of the princesses from "Frozen" will available on a fundraising day, Monday, at the YMCA and on the show dates. Also available for purchase Monday will be cookies from Lulu B's Bakery in Fostoria, which is operated by cast member Chloe Kitchen's mother, Lorin Kitchen. This is 13-year-old Chloe's fourth year in the camp in her home school district, and Lorin has made cookies for the cast and crew each year, Dawson said.Dawson said a healthy amount of the good fortune she's had in presenting good shows in the theatre camp comes simply from the youngsters being present and interested."They have to want to do it, first of all," she said. "if they don't want to, they're not going to. There has to be an interest. I also make it very fun, I think, if I can toot my own horn. One of our primary rules here has always been, 'Have fun.' Do your best — it's never going to be perfect — and have fun with it. ... I think it's the relationship that I build with them and I think it's the culture that we grow here, of being responsible, of being a positive community member, of doing your part."Lily Hutchinson is a 14-year-old camp first-timer who arrived with prior musical experience. The New Riegel student said Dawson's ways of running the camp make it a positive experience."She is very, very patient, which I really like," Hutchinson said. "And if you have a question, she stops what she's doing to answer it or says, 'Keep your hand up; I'll come right back to you.' She explains things, she always makes time for everybody and I think that's really, really nice."She's so lovable. We all love her so much. ... We appreciate Miss Ashley very much. She works very, very hard."The fun of putting on a show may disguise it, but the youngsters are working hard, too, Dawson said. And, it's different from doing household chores or schoolwork, which may not be so appealing."To a degree, this is their work right now," she said. "They come here from 8 (a.m.) to 4 (p.m.); it's like clocking in at a job and clocking out. But they get the pink-haired theatre director who's running around and goofing off with them as well, versus the parent or grownup at home who might have much more stringent rules. ... We have plenty of 'don'ts,' but we focus more on the 'dos.' Most of our dont's are safety-related or respect-related. But I really do focus on the dos — have fun, do your best, be kind. That certainly could have a different impact, focusing on the dos instead of the do-nots."It's certainly appealing to 14-year-old Olivia Allshouse, a 14-year-old Van Buren student who is in her first camp after having been in other productions."Honestly, I like it a lot," she said. "It's so fun, meeting all the kids, and (the staff members) are such amazing people. ... I just think the whole experience is so fun. Getting to be with everybody is so great."Chloe Kitchen said she's found benefits beyond fun during her four years of attending the camp. "I've learned to speak my mind and ask questions," she said. "And I've learned to project my voice and to be myself."Whereas previous camps were spread over six weeks, Dawson's full-time work, in part, prompted the change to an intensive two weeks. To help with that, she's implemented the use of ensemble leaders, who are cast members in charge of small-group work that helps make the entire project come together.Cara Nichols, a 14-year-old Van Buren student who has been doing theatre since age 5 but is in her first Fostoria camp, is one of the ensemble leaders."You get sectional time, where you go find a spot with your ensemble ... and you run lines, you do the dance, your help them figure out their harmonies and stuff," she said. "It's a lot of fun. It's difficult at times, just because I have a group of 10. Keeping 10 kids in line can be difficult sometimes. But it's a lot of fun. It's definitely something I would love to do again."Dawson said the small groups "come back and they've improved."She added: "It really enables us not only to get more done in a short period of time, but build those leadership and teaching qualities in kids that they can then apply to their sports or clubs. ... I really think that is one of the things that's helped us get this far."Dawson said she's fully confident that her group will turn in strong performances on the show dates. And that would be appropriate, as "Frozen Jr." — a relatively new youth version of a musical — was selected as part of celebrating the fifth anniversary of the musical theatre camp. The hope with the show selection was that many youngsters would sign on; indeed, 27 people will be on stage, and two others, both YMCA employees, are voluntarily assisting with the technical part of the production."Five is a big number for a program," she said. "It's a pretty landmark number. And to grow it from the 10 kids I had when we did 'Godspell (Jr.) up to 27 this year and kids from all different school districts, I wanted to do something that honored that in a way. Doing 'Frozen,' — it's such a well-known show, a well-loved movie by so many kids — it feels like I'm being able to celebrate what we've done so far and this is a landmark here for us."In addition to Kitchen, Hutchinson, Olivia Allshouse and Cara Nichols, the cast list includes: Scarlett Allshouse, Camilla Aryee, Avalynn Baeder, Kaylee Boehler, Norah Bradford, Imani Camp, Joss Camp, Kamille Davis, Willow Dutcher, Katy Garrett, Isaac Hopkins-Fawcett, Ava Jenkins, Nash Knowlton, Grace McConnell, Brielle McCune, Adelyn Nichols, Hayden Noel, Chance Roddy, Adrianna Runion, Oliver Smalley, Arrington Swortchek and Pennington Swortchek. The volunteer technicians are Amia Martinez and Emerson Clark.