‘The West End’s’ Hidden Gem’: Kids Find Their Voice at South Carolina Children’s Theatre

Step inside Greenville's magical theater wonderland where disco balls spin, Hogwarts comes alive, and Finding Nemo swims across the stage! This conversation with South Carolina Children's Theatre's leadership team unveils the joyful world waiting for your family this summer. Visualize your child crafting potions at Hogwarts camp, playing Quidditch, or performing alongside 40 peers in a full musical production. Hear how families create lifelong memories together - from grandparents to toddlers - in a place where 200+ children recently experienced live theater for the very first time. With performances across two unique stages, classes for every age, and countless ways to engage, you'll discover why SCCT has been Greenville's premier family destination for nearly 40 years. Located downtown with convenient parking, your next unforgettable family adventure awaits!

Links:

• SCCT

• SCCT Summer Camps

• SCCT Upcoming Shows

• SCCT Classes

Transcript

Katy Smith:
[0:02] Summertime is almost here, and kids and the grown-ups who love them will be looking for fun things to do. I'm Katie Smith with Greater Good Greenville, and this episode of Simple Civics Greenville County features one of the many excellent outings for any time of year, but especially the summer, South Carolina Children's Theater. For almost 40 years, SCCT has been empowering and inspiring a new generation of changemakers through theater. Today, you'll hear from Katie O'Kelly, SCCT's executive director, and Betsy Besson, education director, about all they have to offer from camps to theatrical productions. And who better to interview them than a mom who's on the lookout for summertime activities? That is our own Carrie Hutchins, who serves as Greater Good Greenville's project manager. Be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast app so you won't miss our next two episodes on more summertime fun.

Carri Hutchens:
[0:54] Hi Katie and Betsy, thank you for being here.

Katie O'Kelly:
[0:57] Thanks for having us, glad.

Betsy Bisson:
[0:58] To be here.

Carri Hutchens:
[0:59] We're here to talk about the South Carolina Children's Theater, and I am relatively new to Greenville and I'm a new mom and I love the South Carolina Children's Theater and recently took my son, he's two and a half, to see his first show. We got to see The Very Hungry Caterpillar which we loved, and I hadn't even realized that there were programming for kids that were that young. So what do you love about working for the Children's Theater?

Katie O'Kelly:
[1:23] I love South Carolina Children's Theater. So I started about two and a half years ago, and I am currently the CEO of SCCT. Our mission is something that just means a whole lot to me. It's to empower and inspire a new generation of changemakers through theater. And what we mean by that, when you think about a changemaker, you're thinking about somebody that has empathy, that wants to make the world a better place, that sees how the world is, but how it also could be. And instilling that in young people is something that's phenomenal. And I get to do that every day for my job. So whether that's through our education programs, our onstage performances, in school residencies, out in the community, every facet of what we do, we're trying to empower young people to change the world. And what's not to love about that. And so being able to lead an organization that empowers students to be good people and be the future leaders that we want them to be, that's something that's really exciting for me. And I get to see that change in young people every single day I walk in that building, whether they're coming for a class, they're coming for a rehearsal, they're coming to help me install a balloon arch for opening night. You know, there's something that is empowering to have young people at the heart of everything that we do.

Carri Hutchens:
[2:35] That's great. So I want to get a sense of your general programming. So can you share what are the kinds of programs that you run year-round and what are some things that kids get to do in your program that they might not get to experience anywhere else?

Katie O'Kelly:
[2:47] Yeah, so we have year-round education programs that I'll let Betsy talk about a little bit, but we also have performances on two performing spaces. So we have the Bell Stage, that's a 300 seat proscenium theater, exactly what you think about when you walk into a theater, right? You see the stage, the curtains, and you're sitting in a seat. And then we also have our black box theater that's called the Yawn Stage that seats 120 people. And that's a convertible space. So every time you walk in that space, you're seated in a different position. So it can be in the round, it can be as a proscenium, it could be sitting on the floor, you don't know what you're going to walk into. And so that is a really fun space for new work, or for theater for young audiences. It's great for our classes. It's great for rehearsals. We try to use these spaces in all different ways. So we have that going on during the school year. So our season is normally September through May for our performances. And then any other time of the year, we have education classes. We're also in schools during the school year, whether we're doing residencies, we're having schools come for field trips to us. So we are embedded deeply in the community of Greenville and Greenville County schools and their surrounding districts.

Betsy Bisson:
[3:57] And we have classes. We have a traditional fall and spring semester, as well as an entire bevy of summer camps. We've got about 117 of those offering this summer. So we have kids in the building from about 2:30, 3 o'clock until about 8 o'clock every night, just with the classes. And I have, during the summer, I have five different classroom spaces running all the time. We have Hogwarts camps where they're playing Quidditch and making butterbeer and doing all kinds of like really fun things. But it's getting to see the youngest. And we start our classes with three years old and all the way up to high school. And then I also have a free adult acting class that I teach because we do cast age appropriately on the stage. So adults are playing adults and kids are playing kids. So I'm trying to get more people that maybe thought about maybe I'd like to do some theater, but I've never had the time because I've had a family, a job, whatever, and I get to come back and give that a try. And we've cast quite a few of them that way. But also sort of a bridging between education and performance, we have something called Tell Me a Story Theater and our partnership with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra doing Once Upon an Orchestra. And we've got one of those coming up in a couple of weeks in May. Our principal teaching artist does the story part, and then Greenville Symphony Orchestra musicians do the music part. And it bridges a child's book, storybook that they love, with classical music, and then introduces them to the instrument and the musician that's playing it.

Betsy Bisson:
[5:21] But the Tell Me Story Theater is, once a month, we have a Tuesday and Saturday show where it's a kid's storybook. And it's a great way to bring that two and a half year old in to see how do they, you know, do they listen? Do they not listen?

Betsy Bisson:
[5:35] It's in our lobby. It's all lit. Nothing's dark. Nothing is loud. Everything's very predictable and easygoing. And then we encourage those kids to get on stage and perform as part of it at the end. So they get to be an actor as well. Great chance for pictures. Great chance to start to get them trained as audience members moving forward.

Betsy Bisson:
[5:54] Wolf Trap is something we're now doing in school systems for 4K. So we're really reaching that young market and teaching teachers how to integrate arts into their regular lesson plans. So we take whatever their lesson is and figure out how to imbue it with dramatic activities and things so that it's not just let me talk and let you try to remember. It's let's get on our feet and let's all be the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Let's all, you know, be, they had a whole map of the classroom where all the different insects lived, you know, at the teacher's desk for the bumblebees and whatever. And they all had to, like, experience what that was. So it's sort of empowering the teachers as well as encouraging the kids. And we're continuing to grow all of that. We're going to be touring again this year. Though, yes, we do education. Yes, we do performances. We do a lot that sort of blends between the two. So we're going to be going, taking a couple of shows out to elementary schools in the fall and winter next year. So we know that buses can be difficult to arrange, but we're going to just come to your cafetorium and you get to be part of that process right there.

Carri Hutchens:
[6:56] That's so fun. I love it. So turning to summer programming, what do you have going on this summer and what are you most excited about?

Betsy Bisson:
[7:04] Most excited about is a camp that we've been working on for a few years and it's going to happen. It's happening this summer. It's called Finding Nemo Kids. It's a musical production of Finding Nemo, the movie that everybody loves, but it's going to be done by 40 kids that have registered for this camp. It's a full day, two week camp. And over the course of that, they develop the entire show and then they do a weekend of performances. So we're very excited about that one. But we also have, I mean, we run, like I said, from three years old on up to 12th graders, different camps throughout the summer. We have like a full 11 weeks of summer camps. We start the day after Memorial Day and run until the Friday before school starts back. And then at the end of summer, we have some pre-K camps for those kids that aren't in school yet that we can continue to do in the mornings. But we have Hogwarts camps, we have Inside Out, we have Minecraft Mania, we have Sonic Summer, we have any number.

Katie O'Kelly:
[8:04] Moana.

Betsy Bisson:
[8:04] Moana.

Katie O'Kelly:
[8:05] Squishmallows.

Betsy Bisson:
[8:06] Yes, sorry, Squishmallows. How can I leave out Squishmallows? I had to look up what those were originally. I was like, what is this? Oh, okay. Oh, yes, that would be very popular. So, and it's just a lot of fun. Kids come, they participate in these activities. They do a full stage tour under multiple colored lights. They have snack time and bubble time and chalk art time outside. So it's really kind of gets all of the feels. They get to do all the things and they really do go home very tired at the end of the day, which doesn't hurt.

Carri Hutchens:
[8:37] If a parent is looking to sign up their child is there still room available for some of these camps?

Betsy Bisson:
[8:42] There is. Nemo is sold out. We have a waiting list on that one, but we do all of our camps. There are some that are sold out but we have plenty of space in different ones. We're doing a Wicked musical camp, Swifties Sing camp, Disney Favorites camp, all sorts of things. So lots of musical theater, lots of acting, pre-K camps, all different kinds for the littlest and they go home with a craft every week. It's a lot of fun. And we kind of call it summer is coming, like winter is coming from Game of Thrones because summer is coming. It's just such a massive thing. There are just so many teachers, so many students. It's so busy.

Katie O'Kelly:
[9:19] We have over a thousand kids that come through our summer camps. We have 117 camps. And what I think that's really great about it is that they can try it and then they can sign up for something else because we have so many camps that we do have camps that sell out very quickly, but then we also have camps that we know are add-ons for later. So if you're trying to plan your summer vacation and you know you're gonna be gone for two weeks, then you can sign up for the next week. And so that's, we try to keep that. We try to keep that flexibility.

Carri Hutchens:
[9:49] I love it. And I love the flexibility too that you mentioned. And as someone who's just, I haven't quite dipped into camps yet. My son's not quite old enough, but started to look into it. And it's really nice to know there's some flexibility just depending on their interests and, you know, to see if this is a good fit. We've talked a lot about, you know, your various programming and all the kids that you serve. I want to get more of a personal look. So if you can share, has there been a memorable moment or story that really stuck with you in your time at the theater?

Betsy Bisson:
[10:15] So many. There was a time last fall, one of our advanced level classes is called On Stage. And yes, it's advanced level from five years old to fifth grade. And there are kids that have been with us for a few years and they audition to be part of the class. And then they work on a piece for the whole semester. And then they do a performance weekend for four different shows over the course of that one weekend. And the really cool thing about this class, because, yes, we do classes all the time, but we engage middle and high school mentors with this class. And so we may have 17 kids actually taking the class, and we'll probably have 10 to 12 mentors assisting the class. And the mentor's job, they are assigned like two or three kids, and they sit with them and make sure that they explain, you know, what does this word mean and how do you write that down? And they are just sort of side coaching them the whole way through.

Betsy Bisson:
[11:10] And then the mentors become the technical elements for the run of the show. They're changing the set. They're changing the costumes. They're running the lights and sound. They're stage managing the show. They're doing all of the peripheral stuff so the kids can shine.

Betsy Bisson:
[11:24] Well, they're here for a long time on that weekend. And I heard this story that Tracy said, I went to look for this with the 30 kids that suddenly disappeared from where they were supposed to be. And she was a bit concerned. You know, we're talking one room is three feet away from the other door. So she heard music coming from the other door and she went and opened the door and looked in. The entire group, five years old to 18, are in this room surrounding this one mentor who happens to be able to play piano and he was playing show tunes, Broadway show tunes. And these children were all belting out the songs. I mean, the whole group of them. And it was like sort of the middle schoolers were actually leading the charge and watching the 18-year-olds and the five-year-olds follow that was really cool to watch that camaraderie, that incredible age group. Usually high schoolers are just too cool for everything, but they were totally embracing the idea that they were the big brother, big sister for these kids. And just watching the joy that was coming off them is, it sort of happens all the time though, you know, little bits of that where they're including everybody. They're working together. They're having a great time, as you want kids to do on their own. They're not connected to a screen. They're just having a great time and being creative and supporting each other. And it's just…

Betsy Bisson:
[12:49] When you get chill bumps, when those moments happen, and he's like, I've got to step out of this room so I don't mess this up, you know, kind of thing.

Katie O'Kelly:
[12:57] You see the power of what we do every day, right? Whether you're sitting in the back of a school show and you're watching young people experience live theater for the first time and they're gasping at the set change or saying, ew, when the prince kisses the princess, right? And those moments are really great. But I think a lot of our heart is in education. And when I was in my first month or so in the job, I signed up to do the car pickup drop-off line, naively not realizing how insane it is trying to get that many students into the building during class change. But I watched a parent walking two of their children in, and one was probably five or six and had obviously taken a class with us and walking with confidence and just like, I know where I'm going. Dad, you don't have to walk me in. But then her little brother, who had to have been three or four, was walking with her and so terrified to walk in, had no idea what he was walking into, like clenching onto his dad's hand. And his dad told me from the car to the entrance about.

Katie O'Kelly:
[14:03] Building of confidence that he has seen in his daughter and that they knew immediately they needed to sign their son up. That she had walked into that building the first time so timid just like him and after one semester was skipping in, knew the space, she made it her own, she was confident, she found her voice and that's exactly what we want to do.

Katie O'Kelly:
[14:23] And so then a couple weeks later I was walking out to my car and I saw those two walking in. They didn't have their dad with them this time. They were holding hands, skipping in. And so you could see even after a couple weeks, even the young boy was having that same experience. And that's pretty amazing to give an opportunity for a young person, even at three or four or five or six years old, to find their voice, find confidence. They feel like the space is their own. So I know that we're doing the right thing, right? And giving young people the power to, you know, change their own little lives and talk about it. And you can see them just light up when they're getting dropped off. I mean, they're in school all day long, and then sometimes they're dropped off for education classes, and then they're in rehearsal till 9:30, 10 o'clock at night, and they cannot wait to be there. Yeah, they're so excited to be there, and they give us the drive to want to get up every morning and make sure that we're providing opportunities for them to, you know, do the things that they want to do, whether a student wants to learn how to hang lights. And our technical director taught a new student how to design lights for our onstage class recently and kind of left him to do it. And he was learning and he didn't know, remember or know how to do this one thing to make this disco ball turn.

Katie O'Kelly:
[15:37] So he opens his phone and asks ChatGPT, how do I make this disco ball turn? It's like teaching us new things too. And so you see young people being inquisitive and wanting to learn more, but then also teaching us too. And we're creating these opportunities for them to get these skills that they can take on other places. So I'm inspired almost daily at our work.

Carri Hutchens:
[16:01] I'm curious. So just a little look behind the scenes, Katie, is there something that your team does really well that you, most people probably won't even notice. I'm sure there's so much that goes on behind the scenes.

Katie O'Kelly:
[16:12] Our team is pretty phenomenal. They are always wanting to come up with new ideas to inspire kids or to make life easier or create a new program. So they are constantly trying to do professional development, learn new things, bring new ideas. And we try to empower them to create something new every year. And so I think that that's really inspiring. And I see other artists that are coming in to work with us or they go work at other theater companies and they're talking to other artists. So then they're trying to create something together and knowing that our space is kind of a beacon to create new work and allowing them to have that space. And so I try to empower the staff to if you want to do it, let's try it. I'm a person that is a flip the game board over and see where the pieces fall and try new things. And if it doesn't work, we'll pivot. And so I think that the staff is really embracing that too. So we're kind of this hidden gem in the West End. And so trying to get our brand out there and our programming, and we want more young people to experience what we do. And so we're trying to make sure that we're accessible to them, that they can come to us. But if they can't come to us, we're going to them. So whether we're at Youth Base, we're at the Boys and Girls Club, we're Camp Courage. You know, we're trying to to be where the people are, right?

Carri Hutchens:
[17:35] So if you are a community member, say someone in the community wants to get involved, whether they have kids or not, what's the best way to do that?

Katie O'Kelly:
[17:44] Yeah. So we say that we serve multi-generational audiences. So from birth to 99, whatever age you are, we have something for you. So they can get involved by volunteering. They can come see a show. You don't have to have a kid to come see a show. I know that that's different than some other or youth organizations in town, You can come for a date night to Matilda. You can come to a date night for a holiday show. Like, you don't have to have a young person with you. So there's that. Or you can sign up your young person to come take a class with us or come to one of our free story times or one of our family engagement workshops. We try to offer a lot of free programming, too, as an entry point to see, one, are you interested in what we do, but also get to know a little bit more about us. We're also a nonprofit, so we're happy to take on new donors as well. If they're interested in donating their time, treasure, and all of the above, we're happy to find a place for them. But there's always something to do, whether that's, you know, helping us hang posters for our shows around town or helping us with a development mailing and stuffing those envelopes or it's helping us build a set. If you want to learn how to do set painting, we'll teach you how to do that. You want to learn how to sew, we'll help you do that, too. So we try to create opportunities for anybody that wants to be involved.

Betsy Bisson:
[19:02] And if you go to our website, you can find a place to just say, hey, I'd like to work backstage or, hey, I'd like to just volunteer or here's the classes and or here's the free programming. It's all there. And so you can look at it, compare your schedule with everybody else in your household, which can be challenging and find a time. I love, the thing I love about our shows, I mean, the high professional quality, but watching these families come together, I mean, watching kids being introduced, because one of the pre-show speeches, I always ask, how many of you is your first time to a theater? And all these little hands go up, and we do a whole round of applause for them, because it's like, we're starting the beginning of Theater Goer, right here, that three-year-old. And Very Hungry Caterpillar had just a bevy of them. And it was like… 200 hands went up. And I'm like, okay, all the other theaters in town, you are welcome. We are building your audience for you. But to see these people come as their family, create this memory, they come, they make a, they come together, all the generations of the family that watch the show, they probably go get ice cream or some meal or something. And then they, they have this memory forever. And they may not be able to remember the name of the show, but they remember that experience tremendously. And we're doing that all the time. So it's very cool.

Carri Hutchens:
[20:20] I love it. And so before we go, is there anything else you'd like listeners to know that maybe we haven't touched on yet?

Katie O'Kelly:
[20:25] Yeah, I mean, we would love to have you there. You know, if you want to be there, we want to have you there. We have a great lineup of shows next season. We start with The Diary of a Wimpy Kid in September, and we end with a teen musical that the title has not been announced yet, but will be soon. And that will be in June of next year. So we have programming for everybody. We have a really fun holiday show that's about to be announced as well and excited to bring new audiences to our space. We're producing in both spaces. We have 10 performances or 10 productions next season, which is more than we have ever done. So it's a fun adventure to embark on. We have some really great education programs starting next year. We're bringing back touring that we haven't done since pre-pandemic. So I think that we're really starting to rock and roll again after this pandemic hit that hit a lot of theater companies. So I'm excited to have new audiences there and welcome new people and then also be more out in the community. So we hope that y'all will join us.

Betsy Bisson:
[21:31] And people that don't know, we're right downtown across from the baseball field, across from Gather Greenville. I mean, it's, you have a parking lot right there.

Katie O'Kelly:
[21:37] We have a parking lot.

Betsy Bisson:
[21:39] Y'all. Which is big, but it's very walkable. So we encourage you to come down and enjoy everything that downtown Greenville has to offer and come see us.

Carri Hutchens:
[21:48] I love it. Thank you so much. I really appreciate both of your time and thank you for all the great work you do.

Katie O'Kelly:
[21:54] Thank you for having us.

Betsy Bisson:
[21:55] Thank you.

Catherine Puckett: Simple Civics: Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville. Greater Good Greenville was catalyzed by the merger of the Nonprofit Alliance and the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy. You can learn more on our website at greatergoodgreenville.org.