Did you know that our ENTIRE Youth Ensemble (and Rem Murray!) of Shrek The Musical have studied with Stage One Theatre School? With your generous donations to Stage One and the Henry Vandenberghe Memorial Bursary, we are able to provide stellar theatre education to youth in Kamloops. 

 When Terri Runnalls began offering acting classes through The Hub For Creative Learning at WCT, her hope was that it would allow youth to explore and fall in love with theatre. Now, three years since the inception of The Hub, Terri is seeing the fruits of her labour of love onstage as members of her past and present classes make up the Shrek The Musical Youth Ensemble. 

As an arts educator, Terri believes in the power of theatre, and the importance of exposing kids to theatre. "All kids deserve the opportunity to express themselves, create work and tell their stories. In fact, we need them to!"  Through donations to our Theatre School Fund, WCT is able to create and offer programming specifically geared towards youth. Whether this is through theatre classes, matinee programming, workshops, community outreach, job shadowing, or seeing the shows, funding makes this  all possible!

It also allows families to see shows they couldn't otherwise afford, students to attend our classes, theatre to reach further into our community, and creates space for WCT's Education department to create the safest, warmest, educational space for youth. Stage One has levels of participation that allows students to grow, providing different types of classes, experienced instructors, and various opportunities. "We love to watch a child develop before us from an intro class to musical theatre to performance class, then perhaps even to a community theatre group, university, or performing in one of our WCT shows! It's thrilling to watch their talents develop. While it is so fun to watch our students become actors, it is even more thrilling to watch them become good people. Nothing gives us more joy than watching a child's confidence grow as they realize how wonderful it is to be themselves. Watching kids realize they've found their place, now that is success!"  

To learn more about The Hub for Creative Learning, Stage One Theatre School, and upcoming Stage One classes, please visit wctlive.ca/thehub/

Photo of Shrek The Musical Youth Ensemble: Front Row  (L-R) Adison Thompson, Anna Hahn, Everleigh Rife, Anna MacFarlane, Brielle Ernst | Back Row (L-R) Seren Williams, Gray Edwards, Aiza Abbas, Kaitlyn Brain | (Not pictured: Esme Morris)