What Can Musical Theatre Do for Your Child?

My daughter loves doing theatre, and in particular, musical theatre.  She just performed as ‘Belle‘ in “Beauty and the Beast” this past weekend in a community musical theatre production.

She has been in eight community theatre productions over the last two years. This has kept both of us very busy.

The last several weeks have been incredibly busy with almost-daily dress and tech rehearsals.  Parents were busy helping with costumes and props, and assisting at rehearsals and performances.

I, for one, am glad to once again have time to fix a healthy dinner for my family and catch up on laundry, bill-paying, house cleaning, sleep, and all the other things that I’ve neglected over the last few weeks.

Yesterday, my daughter said, “I feel sad that it is over.”  I feel more relief than sadness that the show has come to an end, but I do understand how she feels.

For more than two months, she shared most of her time outside of school with these other kids, teens, and adults. They lived and breathed “Beauty and the Beast” as they sang and danced and acted, all working together to create this beautiful show. And through this experience, the cast members formed special bonds with each other.

As a 12-year-old ‘Belle,’ my daughter experienced something truly wonderful that she will always treasure. As she stood on the stage for a “Meet and Greet” session with the audience, young children gave her flowers and cards and posed for pictures with her.   To those children, she was ‘Belle,’ and that experience brought my daughter great joy.

Sure, there were frustrations and disappointments.  ‘Maurice’ and ‘The Beast/Prince‘ were not feeling well for the shows. And one of the shows was rained out as the performances are in an outdoor amphitheater.

But for the most part, those will not be the things my daughter remembers. What she will remember is the friendships she made and the incredible experience of being part of this show.

In case you are wondering, “What can musical theatre do for my child?” please continue reading.

Doing musical theatre, or really any type of theatre, can provide a wonderful experience for children, whether their goal is to become a child actor or not.

Participating in theatre and musical theatre can help all children become better at:

1. Reading,
2. Cooperation with others,
3. Singing,
4. Dancing,
5. Performing,
6. Memorization, and
7. Acting and Improvisation.

In addition, being part of a production such as this also helps children develop confidence in themselves and helps to make them more comfortable speaking in front of other people.  It also gives them the opportunity to develop some close friendships.

For those children who are hoping to start or further a career in show business, participating in musical theatre also provides:

1. Valuable training and experience in acting, singing, and dancing,
2. Theatre experience to list on their resume,
3. A testing ground to see how they like acting and also how they perform as an actor,
4. Experience in working together with other children and adults.

For more information on this and many other topics related to helping your child become a child actor, be sure to sign up for Your Young Actor’s Newsletter using the form below.

To your child’s success,

Debbie Sikkema