Tuesday, December 9, 1997

For pupils, the play's the thing

NEWS-JOURNAL STAFF REPORT

DAYTONA BEACH — Wherefore art thou, Romeo? We know the answer to that one. The works of the immortal Bard have been spotlighted in a fascinating way by Seaside Music Theater.

E is for Entertainment at the area's only professional repertory theater company, but it stands for Education, too! A little known fact about SMT is that hundreds of students receive reduced rate tickets to further their education the painless way.

"These works were meant to be performed, not read in a book," says SMT Education Director Gary Cadwallader. He not only books the student groups but creates special study guides and visits classrooms to lecture on the plays.

He's had some great material to work with this season. Cadwallader just finished ushering 425 pupils through performances of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Groups came from Deltona, Father Lopez, Seabreeze, Flagler-Palm Coast and the Wise Private high schools.

By special request, one group of high schoolers came from as far away as Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville, for an evening of watching and learning.

If you think that's something, look what SMT is doing for an encore. The company's next offering of Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors" is an even bigger smash. Cadwallader said all student performances are sold out and more than 1,000, many of them members of school choral groups, will enjoy the holiday classic which opens Friday and runs through Dec. 28.

Similar educational programs will be conducted for the SMT offerings "The Little Foxes," Jan. 16-25 and "Forever Plaid," Feb. 6-22.