Theater Arts is more than just acting. It often requires actors/actresses to expand their vocabularies, sharpen their memorization skills and study other cultures. Creativity is a natural gift but to maximize one’s capabilities – it takes a lot of practice and hard work.
Theater is a demanding field that is typically represented by adult theater companies but the Youth Repertory Theater Troupe of Louisville has earned its respect in the business by becoming first youth-operated theater company in Louisville, KY. That respect didn’t come easily – it was earned, not given.
The company is based out of the Louisville Central Community Center (LCCC) in Louisville’s, predominately black West End and is headed by the center’s Manager of Youth Education and Fine Arts, Erica Bledsaw.
This is not your average youth theater company that focuses on child-themed, “cute” performances. These teens, ages 12-18, are trained to perform difficult roles typically played by adults. Bledsaw operates with a no-nonsense approach that is compassionate, yet firmly structured to encourage the teens to give their all once they get into character.
“The purpose of the Youth Repertory Group of Louisville is to expose young people to musical theater and other genres of music and to give them opportunities. For example, if they were to go to New York and audition on Broadway, there would never be a black Belle for Beauty and the Beast… There would never be a black Lumiere, so I wanted to start doing these productions that would give them opportunities to shine in roles that they would be passed over on Broadway.” – Erica Bledsaw
For many members of the company, performing in musicals has introduced them to different lifestyles and cultures that they otherwise would have never experienced. Although many of the musicals are fiction, they are often based on actual real-life cultural situations. Over the past few years, the Youth Repertory Group of Louisville has presented musicals such as Beauty and the Beast, Black Nativity and the Wiz.
The company is currently holding its 8 week summer Performing Arts Camp at LCCC, which focuses on educating the youth on the aspects of musical theater. The camp places emphasis on acting, singing, stage managing, costume designing, set designing and light and sound engineering.
The camp will conclude with 8 performances of the musical Once On This Island which will take place at the Grand Lyric Theater, located at 1300 W. Muhammad Ali in Louisville.
“Once On This Island is kind of like a classic Romeo and Juliet story – only with black people who are dealing with colorism. It’s the fair-skinned blacks against the darker-skinned blacks and of course they are not supposed to come together and be with each other but Ti Moune falls in love with Daniel, who is of the fair-complexion, and his family, the Beauxhomme’s, don’t want that to happen.” – Erica Bledsaw
15 year-old Christian Edwards has been singing since the age of two but found his passion for theater arts in middle school. Once becoming a member of the Youth Repertory Theater Troupe of Louisville he says that Ms. Bledsaw brought attributes out of him that he never knew existed. Edwards will play the role of Agwe in the upcoming performances of Once On This Island.
“I am Agwe, God of water. Agwe basically controls the water around the island and makes it rain a little bit. Being in musicals lets your imagination run wild, especially with this one being tropical island themed.” – Christian Edwards
15 year-old Mariyah Martin is also ecstatic about her role as Osaka in the musical. Martin is a gifted singer who feels as though she and Osaka share some of the same personality traits.
“I play Osaka, Mother of the Earth. I’m the sassy diva of the musical. I grow the grass and the trees and I make everything flow. My favorite part is most definitely the singing. I love the singing part. I wrote my first song when I was two. It was called Elephant and a Saggy Dog.”- Mariyah Martin
Performances of Once On This Island will take place at the Grand Lyric Center, located at 1300 W. Muhammad Ali on:
July 27th – 11AM & 7PM
July 28th – 7PM
July 29th – 2PM & 7PM
August 3rd – 5th – 7PM
Purchase Tickets ($12 in advance – $15 at the door) @ LOUISVILLETICKETS.COM or
Contact Erica Bledsaw
502-583-8821
Brad Harrison is a journalist/motivational speaker/entrepreneur and on-air personality. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with cum laude honors from the University of Louisville. In October 2015, he started UrbanMaxx Magazine to provide positive role models for Urban residents that reside in at-risk-communities and lack positive leadership in their lives.
For booking or advertising – contact Brad Harrison at bradharrison@urbanmaxx.com