[NEohioPAL] Theater Parents

[Bob Abelman]

Theater family goes the distance

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the Chagrin Valley Times 3/26/09

Sam Welch, 12 years old, is spending four days a week in Willoughby while his 10-year-old sister Natalie is spending six days a week in Lakewood.  No, they are not victims of divorce or foreclosure.  They are not doing missionary work.  Their story is much more dramatic.  They are actors.

 

It all began innocently enough.  Two years ago, word of a casting call for adorable and naturally talented children led to a phone call, which led to an audition, which led to a callback, which became a summer in Cain Park doing a professional production of Oliver!   Little did Kim and Brad Welch realize that a normal life for their offspring was no longer feasible and that they would now and forever bear the title "theater parents."  

 

Being a theater parent means that your kids have more adult friends than you do.  It means that you are recognized for the accomplishments of your children and not your own.  As a theater parent, you will be seeing more plays than Tony Brown, spending more time in waiting rooms than a subscription of Sixteen magazine, and logging more hours on the road then a teamster. 

 

Here is a page from last week's calendar, a slice of life from the blur of activity that is the Welch household. 

 

3:30 p.m.: The kids get home from Chagrin Falls Intermediate School, although Sam often has travel soccer practice, Natalie has Dance Team practice or they both have Select Choir rehearsals and don't get home until later.  They get right to their homework, which includes reviewing scripts and practicing choreography.  Kim prepares dinner.

 

4:30 p.m.: Eating, family small talk and running lines in preparation for the evening's play rehearsals.

 

5:30 p.m.: The kids get driven to rehearsals by Kim.  Sam has the title role in the Willoughby Fine Arts production of Willy Wonka Jr., an all-kids musical production based on the classic  children's book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."  During the 4 weeks of rehearsals, Sam makes the half hour journey 4 nights a week and, during 3 weeks of performances, he is at the theater 3 times a week to perform before several hundred people.  

 

After dropping off Sam, Kim and Natalie make the 45 minute voyage to the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.  Natalie is one of two children in the nine-member cast of the professional production of Grey Gardens.  During the 3 weeks of rehearsals, she is called 6 nights a week and, during the 5 weeks of perpetually sold-old performances, she is at the theater 4 times a week.

 

10:30p.m.: Rehearsals are over and, during the run of the show, so are performances.  Brad   typically picks up Sam in Willoughby and brings him home.  Kim stays with Natalie in Lakewood and brings her home.  They occasionally swap assignments so that both parents can see both kids perform. 

 

11:30p.m.:  The kids are in bed, unless it is the week before a show opens.  During "tech week," all the technical components of the production-the lighting and the sound-are worked through and perfected, which results in even later rehearsals.  Natalie has some rehearsals lasting until midnight, which puts her in bed at 1 a.m.  On a school night.

 

This schedule does not factor in the many nights devoted to bringing the kids to auditions for other shows at theatres all around the city.   It also does not consider that, while in performance for one show, Sam and Natalie are often in rehearsal for the next.  When not in Lakewood or Willoughby, for example, Kim or Brad delivers them to the local High School for rehearsals for the upcoming production of Guys and Dolls. 

 

Sarah Palin tapped into the hockey mom population to make a point about the personal sacrifice parents make for their children.  Minus the mouth guards, Kim and Brad Welch's children are on the equivalent of an all-star hockey team. On tour.  With a never-ending season.

 

As with the parents of young athletes, Kim and Brad wonder if their children's passion will someday become their profession.  Of course, the worlds of sports and performing arts are equally competitive. But passion is what drives Sam and Natalie to excel in theater and driving is what Kim and Brad do to support them
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