Performing Arts welcomes thespian summer interns

In anticipation of another summer filled with live theater and Creativity Camp, the Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts (WCPA) has welcomed four student interns. The four—Madeline Ballard, Cipa Frost, Blake Narcisian, and Josh White—are already settled into the apartments above the historic Jones Theater and are hard at work.

The Tribune had an opportunity to sit down with the interns last week as they gath­ered for a reading of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Shakespeare offering in which they will soon be performing. The four interns were selected from an applicant pool of about 20 students who had responded to the nationally advertised positions.

Madeline Ballard is a Custer County High School graduate who is attending Col­orado State University, Pueblo. Her com­bined studies in Music as well as Wildlife and Natural Resources bring an unusual interdisciplinary environment to the theater mix. She is delighted to be gaining more experience, and notes that she is equally delighted to be giving something back to “the community I love.”

Cipa Frost, a New York City resident and a student of acting at the University of Connecticut, was motivated to apply for the WCPA internship upon the recommendation of her friend Charlotte Compo, who interned here last year. In addition to her perfor­mance roles, Cipa looks forward to being on the staff of Creativity Camp; she loves working with kids and has done so previ­ously in Connecticut summer camps. Cipa noted the happy coincidence that A Midsum­mer Night’s Dream will be performed over Summer Solstice, our own midsummer.

Blake Narcisian calls Denver home and is pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in Musical Theater at Oklahoma Christian University. He already feels immersed in theater in the pre-production rehearsals underway, and in anticipation of perfor­mances here and in Florence’s Rialto The­ater. Blake consistently used “play” and “joy” in describing his commitment to per­forming arts—and the parades!

Josh White, from Eugene, Oregon, is a student of theater, directing, and playwrit­ing at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. It was there he saw the advertise­ment of the WCPA internship on his call board; he moved on it immediately. New to the Valley, he is pleased to be in this beau­tiful corner of Colorado. He is particularly enthusiastic about A Midsummer Night’s Dream, pointing out that the cast and pro­duction team have deciphered some of the more obscure Shakespearean language into more easily understood phrasings. Josh regards this highly entertaining comedy as “really fun, a large laugh,” a play he is enthused to be part of here.

It was Cipa who first noted how reward­ing it is to experience a small community like ours so supportive of live theater, involving folks from kids through young adults and adults to seniors. She finds WCPA’s engagement with education as well as performance inspiring. All the interns chimed in and seem especially appreciative of being able to experience the several facets of theater, from meeting with the Board of Directors to extensive interac­tions with those “behind the scenes”—the tech staff in lighting and sound, set build­ers and painters, costumers. A full summer has just begun for these lively students, and we look forward to their performances and contributions to our kids’ development in Creativity Camp.

This summer’s WCPA Shakespeare Festival schedule opens with A Midsum­mer Night’s Dream on Friday, June 13 at 5:30 p.m., with continuing performances on Saturday, June 14 at 5:30, and Sunday, June 15 at 2 p.m.; the schedule is repeated on June 20. 21, and 22. The second pro­duction, Yo Ho Hum: A Pirate’s Midlife Crisis, is a new comedy premiered last year at the Minneapolis Fringe Festival. Performances are scheduled Friday and Saturday, June 27 and 28 at 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 29 at 2 p.m.

Welcome, Madeline, Cipa, Blake, and Josh; may your summer here be fulfilling, and do take time to soak up the pleasures of the Valley!

– W.A. Ewing