CONWAY — Two years ago, the Red Curtain Theatre was an idea. Today, the theater is a going concern with many participants and has acquired a permanent home.
RCT, the brainchild of three people — Kristen Sherman, Amber Welch and Johnny Passmore — began in February 2014, so the theater is only in its third season. But the three have “a really awesome support system” that encouraged them to make the idea a reality, Sherman said. Word-of-mouth and social media have been the trio’s only advertising.
While directing The Wizard of Oz together, they began talking about something they found lacking in central Arkansas.
“We found a lot of people with desire but no experience,” Sherman said.
Sherman knows about that.
“I am one of those people who did not get the acting bug until I had a career and a kid,” Sherman said. At 26, she took her daughter and moved to Dallas to attend acting school.
“We wanted to provide a safe, nurturing, loving home for actors because we had not found that. We choose to open our arms to anyone who comes in the door, and be inclusive.”
RCT at first focused on young people, dividing its workshops and performances into two age groups, 7-12 and 13-18. Sherman believes RCT isn’t only teaching young people about acting, but about life.
From the beginning, things have gone together easily for the theater.
“God has made amazing provisions for us” Sherman said, adding that when dress rehearsals don’t go well, “we also like to talk about the theater fairy that shows up and sprinkles dust.”
The three realized in October that RCT was growing faster than expected and that they needed a permanent space for prop, set and costume storage and rehearsals. They began seeking a space.
Villains of Broadway, the first RCT production to incorporate adult actors, had two performances at Hendrix College in Conway in October. The goal was to sell enough tickets to be able to rent a building. The goal was reached, and then some. Both performances garnered standing-room-only crowds, Sherman said.
The lease to the 8,400-square-foot-building at 913 W. Oak St. in Conway was signed May 15. The first event to be held in the new building will be a meet-and-greet May 27 for the cast and crew of The Music Man, which will be performed at Snow Fine Arts Center at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
It is RCT policy to hold a meet-and-greet prior to beginning rehearsals of all the theater’s plays.
“It gives actors an opportunity to get to know each other and the director,”
Sherman said.
Since its beginning, RCT has offered Saturday workshops for youth who are interested in theater. At the end, workshop participants put on a play in which everyone gets to act.
“One of the things we do with the workshop is, we take some time at the beginning to cover the basics,” Sherman said. “The plan is to continue with at least three musical workshops a year.” Elf Jr., a scaled-down, child-friendly version of Elf, will culminate the fall workshop and will be performed at Hendrix’s Staples Auditorium.
This summer, for the first time, RCT will add six week-long day camps, three for the ages 7-12 group and three for the older group. The camps are titled Ready, Set, Act, which covers theater basics; Comedy Camp, which will deal with improvisation and comedy; and Advanced Acting. The camps will be taught by prominent central-Arkansas actors.
Sherman has recently quit her longtime job with oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Mitch Collins of Conway to become RCT’s executive director.
Her partners are still working at nontheater jobs. Welch was an opera-performance major at Michigan State when she moved to DisneyWorld and worked as a Disney Princess. She works for Hewlett-Packard full time.
Passmore is the gifted and talented enrichment teacher at Eastside Elementary School in Greenbrier.
“He has become a part-time prominent local actor,” Sherman said.