Click here for depARTure, an art education fundraiser at Pensacola Little Theater
Actors are known for being able to transform into completely different people on stage. However, acting can also help a person change behind the scenes.
Sid Williams-Heath, executive director of the Pensacola Little Theater, has seen students grow a little taller and speak a little louder after a few drama classes.
“Having a background and foundation that incorporates the arts into their education changes the way children grow and think,” said Williams Heath. I want you to be recognized by me.”
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The Pensacola Little Theater has Topher Warren as the new Education Director and Kimberly Scott as the new Community Outreach Director. The recent hiring, along with the theater’s upcoming departure fundraiser, is part of an effort to make theater more accessible to all children of all backgrounds.
meet the new education director
Warren has several goals he wants to pursue as director of education. The theater education program now offers multiple age-based acting classes and advanced improvisational academy classes.
Warren also hopes to expand acting classes for adults and promote new classes centered around stage management and lighting, stage and sound design.
He also wants to divide acting classes into non-musical theater (classical works of Shakespeare and Greek tragedy) and musical theater classes that incorporate singing, dancing and acting.
Theater has always been a safe place for Warren.
He grew up in Gulf Breeze and was a member of Little Theater from grade school through high school. He went on to the University of West Florida, then toured the United States and Canada with the Missoula Children’s Theater. He then moved to Atlanta, where he acted and performed, and got his first teaching job.
Three years later he returned to Pensacola and reunited with the PLT community. Little When he heard there was a job opening for an instructional director at the theater, he applied and got the job.
“I wanted to create a space where children feel comfortable so that they can discover who they are and really explore aspects of art that many people think are scary,” Warren said. “For me, theater is very vulnerable and a place where you can build relationships with other people by sharing the common task of theater.”
Introducing our new Community Outreach Director
Scott is from Virginia but moved to Pensacola to play basketball at Pensacola Christian College. After graduating, he attended the Dixon School of Arts and Sciences where he taught drama for three years.
Her time at Dixon allowed her to introduce theater to a wider audience and lay a foundation as an artist, teacher, and community advocate. This experience, along with her love of the arts and interaction with the community, motivated her to apply to her Little Her Theater in Pensacola.
“I’m so excited to take on this role as a black woman because I can offer a perspective, and I love that they accept that about me. “I love being in a place where I can be myself,” Scott said. I made it.”
Scott’s goal is to reach as many demographics as possible and find ways to incorporate them into Little Theater classes and experiences. She plans to visit local schools, libraries and organizations to talk about the program and bring the spirit and energy of theater with them, she said.
Scott hopes her efforts will result in a more diverse casting in the Pensacola Little Theater production and encourage others, especially young children, to get involved.
“I think theaters should reflect the communities they perform in,” said Scott. “Seeing black people on stage made me remember how encouraged and inspired it was as a young performer. I want our community to see themselves in our theaters, too.”
prepare to leave
PLT hosts its annual arts education benefit event, depARTure: A Cut Above the Rest., September 15, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Pensacola Little Theater, 400 S. Jefferson St.
At this event, someone will take home a $10,000 diamond from Erebash Jewelery as part of a game of finding the real diamond among the fakes.
The event will also include an annual travel giveaway. This year includes his three-day trip to New York City and a behind-the-scenes tour of Cartier and Neiman his Marcus jewelry collection. Includes flights and hotels. Attendees must attend to earn diamonds, but no trip to New York is required.
For more information on depARTure and to purchase tickets, please visit pensacolalittletheatre.com/departure.