Students with the Voorhees Theatre Company have been hard at work practicing their roars as they prepare to present Disney’s “The Lion King, Jr.” from Aug. 3 to Aug. 6 at Voorhees Middle School.
The performances will serve as the culmination of the Voorhees Theatre Company’s Summer Youth Program, where for the past six weeks two casts of more than 150 elementary and middle school students have split their days rehearsing for the big show and attending theater workshops.
According to program director and choreographer Sandi Makofsky, students attend the program four days a week, where depending on the day they’ll either attend show practice or workshops taught by theater professionals.
Those workshops might cover topics such as dance or vocal training, with many of the workshops taught by former Voorhees Theatre Company students.
“We get kids coming in at all different skill levels, so we’re able to nurture them and teach them and give the tools that they actually need to work on stage so that when they come to rehearsals, by the end of the program, they’ve actually built a skill,” Makofsky said.
Makofsky said the program has a sizable number of students who have never participated in the program or any theater at all before, but it also features some students who are already working actors who keep returning to VTC because it feels like a family to them.
“I love to see their growth and I love to see them working in other places. We have kids that are working on Broadway, we have kids that are doing touring companies, and we have kids that are teaching, so it’s pretty cool to be the base of that,” Makofsky said.
One student with a lead role in the show is 13-year-old Giovanni Faltz, who will be playing the character of Simba as an adult.
Giovanni said he’s played lead roles in shows before, but noted the VTC summer program was his favorite camp because all of the practice the students undergo eventually leads to them getting to perform their own show.
“We have a great cast like everybody has been saying, and it’s a great show for all ages to come and watch and we put on a good show,” Giovanni said.
For 13-year-old Seth Wise, who will be playing the show’s main antagonist as the role of Scar, he said he’s had fun playing the villain of the show as it allows him to act in ways one wouldn’t have the chance to do with other roles.
“We have an amazing cast and we worked really hard,” Seth said. “We all have a lot of fun doing it.”
For 12-year-old student Maddie Allen, who will be playing the role of Rafiki, she said she has a fun role because the character is playful and outgoing, similar to how she acts offstage Maddie said she enjoys having a character she can play around with, and she also enjoys all of the singing in the show.
“There’s a lot of African language that we have to all get used to, and it’s not like another show you just learn the lyrics,” Maddie said. “It takes a lot of practice and rehearsal. I think it’s definitely worth seeing because we spent a lot of time on it.”
Overall, Makofsky said audiences will be in for a surprise with the high level of skill her group of students already possesses, despite their young age.
“They can actually perform and they can actually grow and they can actually do what they do on Broadway, so I think people will be happily surprised,” Makofsky said.
Showtimes and dates include Aug. 3 at 10 a.m., Aug. 4 at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Aug. 5 at 7:30 p.m.; and Aug. 6 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets to each performance are $10, and can be purchased at www.voorheestheatre.org.
