Doing it for the Children

Wondering why your peers are missing part of the school day and then coming back with false beards and devil eyes? They’re part of the children’s show: Gold in the Bones.

Every year Urbana High School’s Drama Club puts on a children’s show with five public performances in the evening, but also special matinees for elementary school classes. This year, there were four scheduled matinee performances, but with the snow day on Tuesday one of them had to be cancelled.

Things run a little differently during shows when you’re working with kids. First off, it’s during a school day. Actors are required to begin getting in costume at 7:45 am for a morning performance that starts at 9:30, or 11:30 am for an afternoon performance starting at 1:00 pm.

The next major change is intermission. Instead of the regular fifteen minute intermission where attendants are allowed to pretty much roam free, the actors lead a “stand and stretch,” which was pirate themed for this show. They also play a few quick games to get out any elementary jitters before starting back up, and there’s always a book giveaway.

The final difference comes after bows. Before exiting the stage, actors tell which elementary school they went to. In addition, instead of exiting to the stage wings, actors walk down the aisles of the auditorium and stand outside the double doors to greet and exchange high fives with the visiting children before they make the return journey on the yellow Laidlaw buses waiting for them outside.

“I love doing the children’s show” says crew member Carson Lewis, “seeing the looks on the kids’ faces when they leave is when I realize that all the long hours were worth it.”