Kids On Stage Keeps Kids Engaged

SANTA MONICA, CA — Elaine Hall started Kids On Stage in 1987 as a way for kids to express their creativity.

“She had this vision that every kid is a star, that you shouldn’t have to audition to get in,” Beth Galanty-Blaney, the current executive director and CEO of Kids On Stage said. “She really wanted everyone to learn self-confidence and find their voice, and we’ve been really true to that mission statement, where everybody has a voice.”

Galanty-Blaney took over the school in 2004 and worked with current Artistic Director Cari Derbise to increase the school’s offerings, building more classes, camps and after-school programs, and increasing their presence in schools across Los Angeles.

“It’s really, really rewarding because the base of it is not about the end product, but it’s about the kids all building self-confidence, finding their voice, having a part,” Galanty-Blaney said. “We provide these classes where we adapt scripts so that the kids have a creative voice in the storytelling of it. It’s really a beautiful program.”

Before the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 imposed nationwide lockdowns, Kids on Stage was running eight classes, in addition to actively teaching in 11 schools and offering private coaching. The company was gearing up for its end-of-Spring shows, which usually take place in May and June.

“We had to quickly figure out what to do,” Galanty-Blaney said. “‘How are we going to maintain this; how are we going to give the kids what they need and what they want and what they’re so excited about when we can no longer go into the theater?’ So we decided to record each rehearsal and record their show and edit it together.”

The undertaking was enormous, as none of the staff are professional video editors and they had a full eight shows to work with.

“The teachers and everybody pulled together and we made it happen,” Galanty-Blaney said. “The parents were super happy, and surprisingly we barely lost anybody; they all were okay to pivot onto virtual which was just beautiful of our community.”

The company quickly shifted to a slightly different method, offering virtual end-of-class showcases that could be enjoyed by families of students, no matter where in the world they happened to be.

“The kids actually put on a show,” Galanty-Blaney said. “We use a lot of backgrounds; it’s pretty well-orchestrated and it’s really super fun.”

Once some level of safe, in-person gathering was allowed by the city, the school established a new iteration of their classes: backyard theater pods.

“Parents would host it in their backyard with their safety pods, and we would come and put a class together for their little private groups,” Galanty-Blaney said. “It’s still happening and it’s very successful.”

Those backyard pods led to another iteration of the standard class model: theater classes in the park.

“We meet once a week and we have a maximum of 10 kids,” Galanty-Blaney said. “They do their rehearsals in the park and then we invite the parents and they bring their beach chairs and their towels and they get to watch a little showcase at the end of the class.”

The school has also been maintaining its offering of fully virtual enrichment classes throughout the pandemic.

“In one way it’s sort of opened up this opportunity to work with people all over,” Galanty-Blaney said. “We have someone calling in from Germany and people from New York which is something we’ve always wanted to do anyway, so that’s a beautiful thing. It’s also allowed us to really hone in on these small little intimate groups, which has also been a real plus.”

Despite the inherent financial challenge of operating classes at such a reduced size, this school and this program are passionately supported by its staff.

“We really believe in this magic of theater,” Galanty-Blaney said. “People are just so happy because they don’t have a lot of this creative outlet right now. We get a lot of amazing feedback: how it’s the best part of their day, how much it’s helping them.”

This restricted environment has also allowed the school to branch out even further in its course offerings, adding classes that were requested by parents.

“We have all kinds of classes that parents requested,” Galanty-Blaney said. “A debate-speech class has become very successful. It’s also opened other ideas of what works in person, what works virtually in a small group. I don’t know where it’s going to go. We just take a week at a time and try to keep it going.”

While Galanty-Blaney is not sure how this hybrid model might evolve in the near future, there are several perks that have the school’s teachers enjoying the format.

“It’s making it so they can really work on the nuances of acting versus the props and the costumes and all that,” Galanty-Blaney said. “It’s been an interesting switch. When you’re doing a show, it’s all about being on schedule and having the tech rehearsals, etc. This changes the energy to a little bit less stressful and more joyful and more honed in on the nuances of acting and I think that the teachers are just loving it.”

Looking to the future, Galanty-Blaney does not see the school’s virtual offerings going away.

“I love the idea of offering our program across state lines, I would love to even go further with it,” Galanty-Blaney said. “It’s really exciting. And the backyard is really fun — it’s magical when you have this group of kids that love to be together, they’re best friends, it’s actually really a nice dynamic.”

Despite the struggles of adapting to a new, foreign environment, the team behind Kids On Stage is determined to weather the pandemic and continue offering this creative outlet for kids.

“We really, truly believe in what we’re selling. We believe that every kid should have theater in their life,” Galanty-Blaney said. “Just going back to the basics of what is theater about: connecting with each other, learning to be a team, brainstorming; it’s all stuff that they’re not typically in touch with anymore, so it just feels really organic and powerful to be able to maintain this.”

“They’re learning how to believe in themselves and all that combined is such a magical mixture,” Galanty-Blaney added. “It just feels good and it’s what keeps us going, it really keeps us saying ‘okay, we have to make this work, this is too important.’”