The Theatre Bug is a nonprofit organization that does original plays and musicals with kids in kindergarten through 12th grade year-round. Their mission is to inspire young people to create community, build confidence and encourage them through educational experience in the performing arts. This week, the group presents its original musical “Showmance.”
”I think community is the heart of The Theatre Bug,” Managing Artistic Director and Founder of The Theatre Bug Cori Anne Laemmel said. “Having a space where a kid knows that they’re needed is really big. Knowing that, ‘Oh, I wasn’t at rehearsal yesterday and everybody missed me’ or ‘I wasn’t at rehearsal yesterday and it was hard for them to get through that scene without me. I’m needed. I’m necessary.’ I think that does really big things for kids. With social media and the internet, it’s easy to feel like you’re one of billions, and what is my impact and what is my importance? I really do believe that these kids work very hard to remind each other every day how important they are. They do that for us too. The teachers feel that, the staff members feel that. We all feel like we are vital to each other. I think that’s really important.”
She continues: ”For audience, I don’t wanna leave them out. Being a part of something like this and coming and supporting these kids and being the person to cheer them on. Imagine you’re seven years old, and you walk down on a stage in front of 300 people, and you worked really hard, and you were brave, and you take a bow, and 300 people are cheering you on. Being that person is also vital, and I think people feel that as an audience as well.”
”Showmance” is a musical about a musical, it’s a backstage tour of what being in a play and what being a part of The Theatre Bug is like.
”It’s a big old love letter to my students,” Laemmel said. “So many of these characters are based on them and things that they have said and funny moments that they’ve had. But a lot of it was also based on my own experiences growing up in children’s theater. Really the first time I had an independent sense of belonging.
Looking at these kids and their experiences, the hilarious and weird things that they say, and also the hilarious and weird things that come along with just being a part of theater in general. But don’t worry, you don’t have to be a theater person to enjoy this. I think as much as it feels like one big inside joke for theater people, it really is like a sneak peek into that world for people that don’t know anything about it, and it’s very fun and very funny, and you’ll probably learn a couple of things before you leave.”
“Showmance” runs through August 2 at Nashville School of the Arts.
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