Fifteen very talented high schoolers that attend classes at the Kevin Jones Performing Arts Studio in Southwest Roanoke County will take to the stage with Monster Musicals! at Jefferson Center’s Shaftman Performance Hall this Saturday, October 30, for two shows at 2 and 7 p.m.
The troupe will perform musical numbers from Broadway and off-Broadway theatrical productions, from shows like Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, The Addams Family, Jekyll and Hyde, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Young Frankenstein. Even an off-Broadway show “that nobody has ever seen or heard of,” said Jones – “Evil Dead” – will supply two songs. The show is scheduled to run approximately 75 minutes.
Jones, an actor and entertainer in his own right, has been presenting Broadway-themed productions with high school students for the past nine years. It’s always a free but tough ticket: you can pick up whatever passes are left at the Jefferson Center box office or take your chances in the standby line during the Saturday matinee or the evening performance.
The event was moved from February to October this time around. “I got sick of the snow,” said Jones, who studied in New York as he learned his craft. “Now there are no weather issues.” The move also worked “perfectly,” said Jones, in using a Monster Musicals theme the day before Halloween.
“They [the kids] come in with innate talent and they have a dream,” said Jones. “I just try and share my passion for performing and live theater with them.” Monster Musicals has been in rehearsals for six weeks; Jones runs his practices like a Broadway show might.
“I want them to have the real experience here in Roanoke – the best we can. We’re over-organized in order to pull everything off.” There are plenty of costume changes this year and a five-piece band that includes Jones on piano who will accompany the actors on stage.
Students come from high schools in Roanoke City, Roanoke County and Blacksburg. “Destined for stardom,” Jones chuckles about some of the kids he works with. Several of his former students have gone on to study musical theater in college; at least one has graduated (Jordan McArthur) and has signed with an agent.
Seniors from the past two years earned scholarships to the prestigious Shenandoah Conservatory (Nigel Huckel and Corinne Davis from Hidden Valley High School.) “They’re doing great,” said Jones, pleased that his school has been around long enough where he can see ex-students excel at the college level.
Six of Jones’ students were in last year’s show. Jones auditions kids that are serious about musical theater for workshops in middle school, then invites those who make the cut to join his performing arts program when they reach high school.
Those who attend the annual Broadway-themed shows often “walk out with their jaws dropping,” said Jones who remains amazed at the level of professionalism demonstrated by high school students. One e-mail Jones received after last winter’s performance he recalls quite vividly: “it was halfway through the show when they realized that teenagers were on stage and not adults. I thought that was the greatest compliment they could get.”
For tickets visit the Jefferson Center box office beforehand or try the standby line on the atrium level 30 minutes before each show on Saturday. For more on the Monster Musicals! show or the Kevin Jones Performing Arts School see kjpas.com.
By Gene Marrano [email protected]
