Watertown Children’s Theatre raises curtain on 30th year

Area students to stage Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” on Oct. 25-27; “Into the Woods” and “Pirates of Penzance” next up

    Singing? Acting? Dancing? Why Watertown Children’s Theatre is the place to be.

    WCT is located at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, and it is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The performers are kids from Watertown and the surrounding areas. Kids can join when they are in kindergarten and they can participate through 12th grade.

    “I love theatre because of the amazing people and staff,” said Joanna M., a WMS student. “The atmosphere is so much fun! It’s laid back and there’s very little pressure. I get to totally be myself.”

    Catherine P., an eighth-grader at WMS, said, “I think WCT is super fun. You get to learn so many new things, then you can show it off to the public! There are also a lot of internships and backstage programs as well, which is nice if you prefer doing behind-the-scene stuff.”

    Kids join for many reasons.

    “WCT is a fun, safe, and rewarding place to be. It has helped me boost my self-confidence,” said Claire G., another WMS eighth-grader.

    There are many different types of shows, including musicals and black box productions. A black box production is a play with only acting, with no singing or dancing. Musicals are singing and dancing productions.

    Musicals are usually in the winter, and black box shows are in the fall. “Into the Woods” will be the next musical, and kids can sign up to audition now. Also in the winter session will be two versions of “Pirates of Penzance”, one for grade five through nine, and another for grades five and under.

    WCT likes to produce scary plays in October because of Halloween. This month WCT is producing “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare. It will be performed this weekend, Oct. 25-27. Some students from Watertown Middle School are participating in this show.

    “It’s so exciting with acting and the set!” Joanna M. said. “For ‘Macbeth,’ we get tons of awesome sound effects and projections. We have never done anything like that before! I love WCT!”

    (To buy tickets for “Macbeth”, to sign up for auditions, or for more information about WCT, go to http://www.watertownchildrenstheatre.org/.

–Oct. 23, 2013–