From Broadway to Bama: Step by step by step at Red Mountain Theatre
When Vanessa Sonon learned last year she was going to visit Alabama, she knew she was going to be treated to delicious food and Southern hospitality, but endure serious heat and humidity. That was as far as her preconceptions went.
With relief, however, she says the state has lived up to her expectations and more.
“It’s really nice to go from the hustle and bustle of New York,” says Sonon, who hails from the Bronx. “It’s nice how everyone here is ready to help out. They’re always seeing what they can do to make your life better at that moment.”
Red Mountain Theatre Boot Camp from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Vanessa Sonon, a native of New York, is teaching Red Mountain Theatre Company’s annual “Broadway Bootcamp” at Berry Middle School.
Sonon returned to Alabama this June to teach at Red Mountain Theatre Company’s annual “Broadway Bootcamp” at Berry Middle School. The camp exposes children ages 4-18 to professional workshops in dance, acting, singing and improvisation. RMTC invites professionals from Broadway and national tours to teach for a full three weeks. The instructors knew they were in good hands with Executive Director Keith Cromwell at the helm, but were surprised at talent in Birmingham.
“Keith said that when he came down here he had no idea what Birmingham was,” says Ellie Woods, a senior at Briarwood Christian School. “But when he started the camp, he said ‘Wow. This is like a little treasure down here.’”
Woods has been involved with Red Mountain Theatre programs for eight years. She has nothing but good things to say about her professional instructors at the camp. “My favorite class this year was dance with Sean McKnight. It was a lot of jazz dancing, and we did across-the-floor work, which was really fun. We also did a number from “Annie Get Your Gun,” which was really great.”
McKnight left the camp Monday to travel to Pace University, where he will be choreographing for “Dancing with the Stars.” McKnight isn’t the only high-profile instructor. Sonon played the lead of Peggy Sawyer in “42nd Street” on Broadway. Tina Marie Casamento Libby, on top of acting, directing and producing, handled all the casting for the national tour of “Annie.”
“Broadway Bootcamp” exposes children ages 4-18 to professional workshops in dance, acting, singing and improvisation.
“I never knew what Alabama was until I got here, but I fell in love with it,” says Libby, who is currently producing a new show on Broadway. “The difference between Birmingham and Brooklyn is that it’s more of a community. People in New York are transient, always moving jobs and moving in and out of apartments very quickly; whereas here, these are your neighbors. I’ve watched the same friends grow up together for years when I come here.”
Libby is celebrating her 10th anniversary teaching at the camp, and says it is the kids who keep her coming back.
“I watch these kids grow up — they have such discipline. I think it’s amazing. I really just have so much love for this area.”
It’s not out of the question to suggest that Red Mountain Theatre Company is bringing Broadway to the South. The camp is certainly flourishing because of it.
Bradford Forehand, education director for Red Mountain, says when he attended the camp as a child, he was one of 150 students. Now, the camp has more than 300 students.
The “Broadway Bootcamp” hosts more than 300 students.
“The biggest difference from 10 years ago is really the magnitude. It’s really telling of the way Birmingham has grown and the way that Birmingham’s love for the arts has grown,” says Forehand. “The amount of interest in the art form is tons more than it used to be.”
Those feelings are mirrored by eloquent Mountain Brook ninth-grader Avrham Robinson, who has been taking classes with RMTC for seven years.
“I feel like, across the whole country, there is a huge misconception that the South is just fishing, hunting and fried chicken. But I feel like they [RMTC] are proving that it doesn’t matter where you are, there are people who want to participate in the arts. Whether it’s acting, dancing, musical theatre, we have such a wide variety of people here who strive to do great things through art. And I feel like Red Mountain doesn’t just focus on musical theatre, but making a huge spectrum of art available to the South.”
Red Mountain Theatre Company is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that strives to transform lives through theatre. Upcoming children’s workshops include “Hairspray Jr.” and Disney’s “101 Dalmatians Kids.” They are also presenting Disney & Cameron Mackintosh’s “Mary Poppins” July 10-Aug. 2. For more information, go to redmountaintheatre.org.
