Stage Lights in Kids’ Eyes

Amid the lengthy debate on how the arts can inspire America’s children to do well--and to do good--too many children are growing up uninspired. But there are groups trying to change that.

On Friday morning, about 100 first- through fourth-graders marched like soldiers into a room at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School in Long Beach, where they obediently sat cross-legged and silent on the floor. There was no excitement or eager anticipation--they clearly had no idea what to expect. A few had the dull, glazed stare of kids who have already seen too much, and none of it pleasant.

So imagine their shock when Paul Garman--a big, handsome man with wavy hair and booming voice--introduced himself and his friends, all of whom looked and sounded as if they’d stepped straight out of Disney’s most fabulous movie.

“We’re here to entertain you,” he said. And they did.

Garman is executive director of Musical Theatre West, a Long Beach theater group that stages major musicals and also runs a cultural enrichment program for the area’s inner-city children. With him was Dale Kristien, a bird-like beauty with fairy-tale hair that flows down her back and a soprano voice of such altitude that it caused the kids’ eyes to pop and their jaws to drop.

Kristien stood in front of the children, minus makeup and microphone, and sang dazzlingly--from “My Fair Lady” (she’ll play Eliza Doolittle in MTW’s upcoming production), and from “Phantom of the Opera” (in which she starred with Michael Crawford for five years), and from that grand old children’s favorite, “The Sound of Music”--which none of these kids had ever heard of. Nor had they heard of the show’s kiddy-hit song, “Do, Re, Mi.” No matter.

The merry MTW troupe taught the kids the song, then taught them the movements, then allowed small groups of children to perform it for the others. Like a city lighting up at dusk, the kids’ eyes slowly turned on, then got brighter and brighter. Even those stone-faced at the start wound up with huge smiles and full participation.

We don’t know if this brush with the arts changed lives. But on this particular morning, a lot of small, emerging spirits were nourished and enriched. The group’s work will continue as long as MTW has funds to bring these kids to the theater--and the theater to them.

A fund-raiser honoring Long Beach arts patron Richard Carpenter (of Carpenters fame) will be held at the Madison restaurant Sunday, with proceeds to this youth cultural program. For tickets, phone (562) 437-6677.