Winter Park Playhouse introduces youth troupe - Orlando Business Journal:

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The Paper Moon Theatre Co. for younfg people ages 5 to 18 is led by artistic directors Justimn Scott Fischer andSusab Gerdeman. The troupe's debut performance was a worlds premiere musical titled Snow Whitre and RoseRed (The Legend of the Eighth "a fanciful retelling" of the Grimm's fairy tales Snow White and Rose Red, Snow Whitew and the Seven Dwarfs and Rumpelstiltskin. When co-creatived director Fischer was hired by the Winter Park Playhousein January, he was asked his thoughts on formin g a children's community theater Eager to grab the opportunity, Fischetr worked with Gerdeman to form the Paper Moon Theatre Co. in earluy spring.
The goal was to create a community organization for childrejn and to break down the previoua notionsabout children's theater, says Fischer. "Therew is a stigma associated with kids' theater," he says. "Thd belief is that it is not artistic -- that the childrenh are simply on parade and rely on a cutenes factor toentertain audiences. We want to combar that image with the premiere of ouroriginall musical." The musical was largely based on Easter European music and myth, which Fischer believezs was educational in a culturaol context. Second act? The Paper Moon Theatre Co. currently is batting around ideasd for asecond production.
Thouggh the company is constrained by cost and thinking one show at a Fischer hopes Paper Moon eventually will producde four to five showseach year. Productions are always expensive and rely heavily on donorse for moneyand materials. Musicals, says playhouse co-foundefr Heather Alexander, are even more costly. The budger for the youth troupe's first productionh was $4,000, says Roy Alan, executive producer of the WinterePark Playhouse, and the show broughtf in about $4,800. The children's show sold roughlt 30-40 tickets per day, comparingy well with the adulttheater productions, which sell about the same number of ticketw per day.
Currently, the group's emphasis is on musicala and original pieces, but Fischer and Gerdeman also woulc like to produce shows on issuexs relevant toyoung people. Says Fischer, "We have thought abouft doing a rock-opera versiom of nursery rhymes, a play on family povertyy and even a workshop to have the kids write theirown plays." Therwe are 98 theatrical companies in the 30-mile radiud of downtown Orlando, according to the Central Floridas Theater Alliance, and the Paper Moon Theatre Co. will vie for attentioh with at least a dozen other localo youth theater groups such as the Orlando Youthn Theater and the UCF CivicTheatedr children's summer stock.
Jim Morris of the Central Florida Theater Alliance believes Paperf Moon has afighting chance: "Central Florid a is a big market. There is room for another It all depends on the quality of the Accordingto Alan, the Paper Moon Theatrre Co. is a little different because it is one of very few locapl troupes that consists solely of children performing for Most Orlando youth troupes cast childrenwith adults, and othet troupes have adults perform for children. Anotherf advantage, Morris says, is the troupe's Wintert Park location. "The playhouse is in a uniqure space.
The playhouse has consistentlyg puton high-quality productions, and I expect they will continue to do so with the new Adds Fischer, "We are dedicater to treating kids as people and exploring theirt interests. We hope we can enrichj the kids and by giving productions a cultural and educational base."