Orange County students find fun at the theater

Piece by piece, 14-year-old Bill Tran carefully laid out his suit, butterflies in his stomach signaling his excitement for the next day’s adventure. Like a kid before Christmas, he said, he could hardly sleep. Tran, along with his entire eighth grade class at Howard Middle School, was about to get a special treat.

Thanks to a donation by Walt Disney World Resort to United Arts of Central Florida, all 13,000 of Orange County’s eighth graders got to attend a special performance of “The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg” at the Walt Disney Theater inside the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

The performance, presented by the Orlando Repertory Theatre, brings to life characters and events from the Civil War era.

“The arts play an important role in a student’s overall academic experience,” said Bill Sublette, chairman of Orange County Public Schools in a statement. “By adding arts to the science, technology, engineering and math movement, we help students build critical thinking skills through creativity.”

For Tran and his friends, attending the theater at the new Dr. Phillips Center was a dream come true.

“I played the lead in both of our musical productions this year and I’m very excited to see the professional actors on stage,” he said. “I am really looking forward to the audience reactions especially.”

And react they did. Looking down over the audience of young teenagers, it was clear to see their enthusiasm for the performance. Gone were the ubiquitous cell phones. In their place, many students held their hands to their faces as they gasped at the action on stage, or covered their mouths to laugh out loud at the gags pulled off by the actors.

“The students’ reactions and applause certainly were genuine,” said Lisa Horohoe, theater director at Howard Middle School.

“This is why theater and the arts are so important, nothing captures the imagination like live drama, especially when performed in such a fantastic theater setting as this,” she said.

Angelina Fernandez, 14, was just as excited to attend the theater as Tran but for completely different reasons.

“I’m not really a theater person, although I do enjoy orchestra, mostly I am interested in the architecture of the building,” she confessed.

“So far it has passed my expectations, everything is so nice here. We were all excited to come. Getting dressed up was a part of that. I think it helps prepare us for adulthood. It’s a step up for most of us, as we get ready to head to high school,” she said.

Gene Columbus, executive director of the Orlando Repertory Theatre, said the performances are just as special for those helping to put it together up on the stage.

“What’s unique about these opportunities is that we get to expose kids to theater — perhaps for the first time — and maybe after this we will have created some lifelong theater fans,” she said.

Only time will tell, but according to Horohoe, the experience may have lasting effects.

“It feels like it had a big impact on the kids,” she said. “I hope this can be a regular event for them.”