San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
South Bay theater still youthful at 50
The remarkable thing about Children’s Musical Theater San Jose is this: Every young person who wants to be in the show gets to be in the show. No obstacles, be they financial, physical or mental, will keep a young person from grabbing a moment in the spotlight.
CMT, as the organization is known, is in the midst of its 50th anniversary and has already featured its performers — both present and past — in galas as well as a full roster of productions. With hundreds of young performers, ranging in age from 4 to 20, the company’s busy year has already included, among others, “Guys and Dolls,” “The Who’s Tommy” and “Avenue Q.”
Next up at CMT is “West Side Story” directed by Kevin Hauge, who has served as the organization’s artistic director for more than 21 years, and featuring guest choreographers, most of whom are CMT alumni who have gone on to work on Broadway, in national tours and at theaters around the country.
Dennis O’Bannion, one of the returning alumni, is choreographing the dynamic number “Cool.” He credits CMT for putting him on a path that led to his 2009 Broadway debut in Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.”
“I had been dancing since I was 4½,” O’Bannion says from his New York home. “By high school, there were fewer opportunities for me, so I wanted to try something new. I had heard about what great work they did at CMT, so I got involved, and I’m so grateful I did. My years there made me an allaround better performer. Everyone there was so passionate about theater and very serious about it. We were all just sponges, absorbing everything we could. Because CMT is so inclusive, it was never competitive. The shows are double and sometimes triple cast, so everyone gets a chance to be part of the experience.”
O’Bannion, 34, worked with CMT all through high school and says the love and passion for musical theater as well as the dedication to craft there is not unlike the world of professional theater he now inhabits.
“It was a great safe space to grow and try things,” he says. “It’s gentler than the real world, of course, but the work is at such a high level it was like being at a good regional theater. That surprises people. CMT is children’s theater, but it’s not. Kevin and his team always treated us as adults, with a lot of respect for what we were doing and how we were growing.”
Started by 17-year-old John P. Healy Jr. in 1968, CMT has weathered ups and downs, but it has withstood the crises to become the oldest operating performing arts organization in San Jose. During its half century of operation, CMT has also seen a fair number of debates about whether the word “children” should continue to be part of its name.
Artistic Director Hauge, 60, joined the organization in 1996 and says he’s well aware that when people hear the words “children” and “theater” they automatically think of “dancing daisies and singing bunnies.”
“I am happy to tell you we are proud of the work we do, and we will give you the best bunnies and daisies you’ve ever seen,” Hauge says. “We want young people excited about the work we’re doing, so we have never shied away from titles that perhaps other companies for young people might not do — ‘Miss Saigon,’ Green
Day’s ‘American Idiot,’ ‘Side Show’ — and we’re not doing altered versions. Our next show, ‘West Side Story,’ represents the 11th time we have been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts for artistic excellence. No other youth theater in the country has been recognized that way, let alone 11 times. It’s fun to show the nation what young people’s theater can look like. We will never shy away from ‘children’ in our name. This is an art form unto itself.”
Steve Jackman’s son Noah got involved with CMT just before his ninth birthday and now, 10 years later, he’s back from his first year of college and rehearsing the role of Riff in “West Side Story.” Jackman says much of the organization’s success can be credited to Hauge. “Kevin has a unique way of getting the most out of these kids and seeing things that maybe others couldn’t see,” Jackman says. “When he cast Noah in ‘Grease,’ I would never have seen him in that role, but Kevin has an amazing eye for seeing what a kid might be able to accomplish with three months of rehearsal. And you can see that the kids just want to do their best for him.” Because he saw what a powerful effect the CMT experience had on his son, who is aiming for an acting career, Jackman has remained involved as a board member and says this arts education organization is not simply theater for theater’s sake.
“It’s so much more than theater,” Jackman says. “Sure, there’s singing, dancing and acting, but these kids also learn how to be comfortable in front of a crowd, how to be gracious winners or losers. It’s an inclusive, welcoming community that teaches them how to be better people. That is the ultimate life skill.”