Updated Friday with mentions of additional performances.

The ideas behind these columns come from a lot of different places. Sometimes they are very obvious subjects, like what to do with the kids in summer and other times they are very personal, like when we lost our family dog or how we got help from our favorite yoga teacher for — among other things — homework frustration. So this time the inspiration for “Edmonds Kind of Play” is based on wanting to support a family we love with a transition from a school with a drama program to a school without one. Sometimes it’s easy to find your kid’s thing and sometimes it’s not; we have one of each at home, so I can really relate with wanting to keep that “thing” going. It is also one of those times where the inspiration matches up with what’s going on in Edmonds.

With my youngest having participated in a drama program this year, I was taken back to the plays that I was involved in and how being a cog in an adorable wheel was valuable on so many levels. When I’ve watched my son’s drama club practices and scanned the room full of like-minded kids in a place of belonging (there’s no real cool way to say all that) I see our beloved Mr. V.’s words “there is a key for every lock” in action. It’s hard for me not to be sappy, dramatic even, about kids putting themselves out there like you have to on stage. I know my friend’s kids are sad about the loss of the program, as are their parents and so I did some digging and unearthed what feels like a ton of local ways to participate in drama whether it be a spectator, a camper, or center stage.

Let’s start with where to go to watch. You have two local options on back to back weekends. I know my kids loved watching the Edmonds Elementary PTA Drama Club’s production of Alice in Wonderland last year and we will be watching this weekend’s performance of “Out of the Woods” as well. Both performances of “Out of the Woods,” Friday, March 11th at 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 12th at 5 p.m., will be held at Edmonds- Woodway High School, 7600 212th St. S.W. The musical, put on by EE students through Dandylyon Drama (we’ll get to their camp offerings below,) is set as “Your favorite fairy tale characters wake up in the middle of the dark woods. They have lost their magic and are far from home.” You can come find out if they will “work together to get out of the woods” by getting your tickets HERE! As of Wednesday, half of the tickets for each showing had been sold. With each EE student getting one free pass, tickets are bound to go fast!

Madrona Children’s Theatre (MCT) is producing Shrek The Musical! which runs from March 17-20 at Mountlake Terrace High School. This is the 24th annual full-scale musical through MCT and it will included 91 kids, two casts, and a 25-piece pit orchestra made up of students, alumni and professional musicians. Performing in these plays is open to all of the 4th through 8th graders at Madrona K-8, as well as students in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program. Two of the showings, Thursday, March 17 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 19 at 2 p.m., will be ASL interpreted. Julie Nuno, the MCT Assistant Producer/Treasurer who is a parent volunteer, told me everyone who auditions has a spot in one of the casts and that there are also options for kids who want to be involved, but not on stage. Nuno said 12 students are part of the stage crew this year, which is made up of students and parent volunteers to help handle the “big sets” among many other elements of the production. MCT, which is run like a real theatre company, is having six showings of Shrek The Musical! in MTHS’ full auditorium, which Nuno says has all the features for a show — lights, microphones, etc.. Tickets will remain on sale online, you can find them HERE, through Monday, March 14 and then the remaining tickets, and they do save some, will be sold at the door at each showing.

If seeing these production inspires your kid to want to take the leap and act themselves, I have a lot of great local options and a couple with a commute. Let’s start in Edmonds! “Drama Kids,” held at Frances Anderson Center, 700 Main Street, starts March 23. For 11 weeks, kids ages 6-11, will practice to put on a play on the last day of class. The description on RecZone.org is hard to beat, “Build confidence, creative thinking and language skills through fun, fast paced drama exercises including improvisation, mini-scripts, theater games and more.” I just spoke with Debbie at Edmonds Parks and Recreation, 425-771-0230, and there is still space in this this program.

Another option at FAC is Monty Python Acting Summer Camp. Kids ages 8-14 can join Monty Python: Toupee Towers. This two-week-long camp starts Aug. 15 and runs daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is in its 10th year. It promises to be “’something completely different’ yet still hilarious.”  Campers will explore theater games, stage combat and “just plain silliness” while working on communication skills and self confidence. We had a friend take this last year and she would recommend it, saying, “they learn a lot” and also jokingly warning parents they will hear “spam, spam, spam, spam” a whole lot. The two weeks of fun culminates in an outdoor performance on the last day of class. For this and other Edmonds summer camps, visit EdmondsCamps.org.

If you are leaving the happy, ballerina-filled halls of the FAC, heading to the summer camps at the Edmonds Center For The Arts is another friendly, familiar option. I have yet to be disappointed at any event I’ve attended at the ECA, and I found out at Edmonds Comedy Night that their bar has a “generous pour.” While they have a few different kinds of summer camp offerings, each is Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and two of them are acting drama based. First, they are offering Hamlet Acting and Combat Camp with Seattle Shakespeare Company where students, ages 11 to 15, will “dive into one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, reading scenes and practicing acting techniques to bring these characters to the stage.” At the end of this week of camp, there will be a showcase for family and friends of scenes and fights from Hamlet! Next, they have “Investigate, Adapt, Act!” with Book-It Repertory Theatre for kids ages 7-11. This camp, which focuses on bringing a book “to life,” will also have a family and friends performance at the end of camp. Campers will “dig into the juicy parts of a story – characters, setting, sequence, point of view – then take it apart and put it together again as a script to act out on stage.” Each year there are a few summer camps I’d like to take myself. These two are high on that list this year! If you’d like you register or get more information you can visit the ECA summer camp page HERE. If these ECA camps sounds fun, but don’t work with your schedule, they have partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Edmonds to provide before and after care. If you are interested in the extended care, ECA asks that you contact the club directly at 425-774-0630.

The next stop in Edmonds may be the most obvious stop for actors, the Driftwood Players. Not only do they have a weekend class for spring, they have summer camps, and summer “Teen Troupes.” Their next offering “Improvisation” runs on Saturdays, March 12, 19and 26. The class, for 7th to 12th graders, will focus on the art of improvisation while they “explore characterization, movement, working as an ensemble, thinking outside the box, listening and responding, using {their} voice, body and imagination.” Classes are held at The Wade James Theatre Lobby, 950 Main St. Edmonds. There will be two “Teen Troupes” performing this summer — “Into The Woods” for those ages 15 to 20 and “Thoroughly Modern Millie” for those ages 11 to 16. These troupes will perform their shows four times and auditions start in April and June, respectively. You can find more info and how to register HERE!

Now there are too many different themed weeks of summer camps to mention, 6 if you’re counting, and some are offered more than once, but the themes include Fairy Tales, Shakespeare, and of course, Orphan Annie. With the age range of offerings being from 3 to 19, there is something for almost everyone. The Driftwood Players site explains that their camps are “student-centered experiences focused on working together to hone basic acting skills, create characters, and cultivate creativity. These high energy camps will act as a springboard for students who know they love the theater!” I always love to read “high energy” when looking for kid activities. Having kids with “high energy” it’s always a relief to hear there will be more moving and less waiting patiently! Like most drama camps, each week will end in a performance! If you’d like you register or get more information, you can click HERE.

There are also options outside of Edmonds. First, there is Dandylyon Drama, which is putting on this weekend’s Edmonds Elementary musical. They offer camps, some are two week performance camps, for kids ages 3 to 18 and meet at more than one location, including Kruckeberg Botanic Garden in Richmond Beach. For more information or to register click HERE.

If you’re into putting some miles on the car, there are also options at The Village Theatre in Everett, as seen in the e-fliers on the ESD website, and also at the Seattle Children’s Theatre. A showing of “Elephant and Piggie” at SCT was really the catalyst for my younger one’s interest in drama. So, I am not only happy to have options to show our friends, and of course, you guys, but also our kids too!

P.S. As it turns out, next weekend is a HUGE weekend for theater in Edmonds. I still am shocked at how many options we have in such close proximity. Since this column posted, I have been made aware of two additional options to view live productions.

Maplewood Middle School’s musical production of Peter Pan Jr. is in the Maplewood Commons March 18 at 7 p.m. and March 19 at 2 and 7 p.m.. The show promises an exciting adventure with all three Darling children, Tink, the Lost Boys, and of course Peter Pan! For more information you can reach Maplewood Middle School at 425-431-7515.

That same weekend, you can catch “Big Bad Wolf” at the Edmonds Center for the Arts and tickets are only $10. Saturday, March 19 at 11 a.m. the Windmill Theatre is in town from Australia to put on this show, which Gillian Jones of ECA calls a “great show for elementary school kids” and “a beautiful story about friendship.” ECA is also offering $2 Arts for Everyone tickets available to families that qualify for Free and Reduced-Price Meal programs through the school district and/or DSHS benefits. For tickets, you can call the ECA Box Office at 425-275-9595 or visit www.ec4arts.org.

— By Jennifer Marx

Jen Marx, an Edmonds Mom of two young boys, is always looking for a fun place to take the kids that makes them tired enough to go to bed on time. You can find her trying to make sense of begging kids to ” just eat the mac n cheese” at jen_marx . If you have a kid-friendly event you’d like to share, email her at play@myedmondsnews.com.