From the Education Manager’s point of view, the day is busy and hectic, but always a real joy. This year was no different. I was really looking forward to seeing the full performances from every class. And to make the event even more special, we were also including a performance by the Introduction to Puppetry class at O.W. Holmes Elementary. Usually our “site-based” classes have performances within their schools; it was so great this time around to have the Holmes kids right in the middle of things and to meet their families too.
The Showcase kicked off with a performance by our “Now PLAYing” group of 5-7 year-olds in Dr. Seuss’ “The Sneetches.” Then Miguel Diaz showed off his masks “Planet Flower” and “Lava Boy” and Marisa DeLaCruz-Martin put on a puppet show for us all.
The 8-11 year olds in “Being on Stage” gave a wonderful performance of “Where the Wild Things Are,” complete with their own homemade monster masks. Our youngest students came back to swim their bottle fish puppets in front of a backdrop they painted themselves, and the Holmes students put on their puppet show, “The Ghosts of O.W. Holmes.”
The final performance of the evening was from the 11-14-year-olds in our “Acting Is …” class, who wrote their own original script based on songs by Kanye West and Michael Jackson. Entitled “The Badder They Are, The Stronger They Rise,” this show featured two dance numbers (and a food fight).
The energy in the room that night was fabulous! All of the performances were fun to watch, and we gave out several Matrix Spirit Awards to some of our most hard-working participants.
Working with all of these students is a complete honor. They blow me away all the time with their talent and creativity, but at Showcase I was mainly impressed by their support of one another. Everyone was truly interested in watching everyone else’s piece; everyone’s reactions and applause were genuine. Afterward, I heard words of congratulations from student to student, and saw hugs and handshakes and high-fives between teachers and family members and kids. The community of creativity is strong at Matrix, and I can’t say thanks enough to all of the teachers and parents, and all of our young performers and puppet-makers and playwrights for being a part of it.
If you missed the showcase, you definitely missed out! Make sure to catch our Spring Showcase on March 22, which is also World Water Day, to see how young Matrix artists use theatre to bring awareness to water issues in Detroit.
Andrea Scobie is the Education Manager at Matrix Theatre Company. She can be reached at ascobie@matrixtheatre.org or at 313-967-0999.
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