60-year-old Spokane Children’s Theatre rallies from brink of closure

The strains of a Hawaiian-themed rendition of “What a Wonderful World” fill the stage. A young girl on a beach awakes perfectly delighted; she rolls around, kicking her legs about in the air and hugging herself tightly before falling back into an exhausted sleep, a contented smile on her face.

Small hands dance just past the edge of the curtains and an occasional pigtail pops into view moments before several 5-year-old girls stream out to race around their new discovery, the Little Mermaid. They chatter and giggle while the Little Mermaid, played by 13-year-old Kaila Caballos, struggles through her rebirth and learns to make use of her newfound legs. Growing stronger with every step, she quickly runs and twirls about the stage, the sheer joy of being alive apparent

The Spokane Children’s Theatre has experienced a similar metamorphosis many times in its 60-year history.

“Two years ago, we were seriously saying ‘Are we going to pull the curtain down on this organization or are we going to move ahead?’ ” said Robert Farley, a volunteer of 35 years.

The theater was looking at its last $400, and the board of directors was considering shutting down the operation.

Drastic and painful cuts were needed to keep it solvent. They had to eliminate the position for the theater’s only full-time employee and rely more on volunteers.

The number of musicals they could produce was slashed.

The first steps were difficult, but volunteers persevered, and the theater troupe is growing in strength and has found a new spring in its step.

“In the theater’s archives, there was an article from 1962 or 1963, about how the theater was out of money and couldn’t continue. They pulled it off,” said Maria Caprille, current president and “Little Mermaid” director. “And it’s what, 45 years later? We’re still here.”

The theater’s most recently completed production, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” was a critical and financial success.

“It’s a show that everybody identifies with, and it gives a lot of kids the opportunity to be on the stage,” Farley said.

That show, along with a hit production of “Junie B. Jones and A Little Monkey Business,” has pushed the Spokane Children’s Theatre back onto solid financial footing.

Ticket sales jumped, something Farley credits at least in part to switching to computerized ticket sales.

For 60 years the concept has been the same: live theater for young people on both sides of the lights. Literature, both popular and classic, from Junie B. Jones to Treasure Island, is the mainstay.

“For the children to see literature come to life, first in their imagination, then really to come to life through the actors, in an entirely different dimension, can be really amazing” Farley, said.

The theater started in 1946 as a community service project sponsored by the Junior League of Spokane.

The legacy of two of the original 1946 producers, Anna Reely and Grace Gorton, drama teachers at Lewis and Clark and North Central high schools respectively, has reached further than they likely anticipated.

In one small example, the two teachers taught drama to both Farley and his wife, giving them their first taste of the dramatic arts.

Years later, when Farley’s children wanted to act, they went to their first auditions at the Children’s Theatre founded by Reely and Gorton. Farley and his wife’s commitment to the theater was so strong, even after their own children were grown, they remain involved in varying capacities from acting to scriptwriting to serving on the board.

“I’m so completely sold on this theater,” the 79-year-old Farley said. “It’s helped so many kids.

“It’s so wonderful to see how good they feel about themselves.”

“It helps them on every single level,” actress Kate Vita said.

“The ones in the audience learn how to be still and pay attention and be spectators. And the kids on stage learn the power and magic and kinetic drive that is live theater.

“It gets in and hooks them.”

That hook has sunk deeply into Caballos. Two years ago she auditioned for her first role and landed a part singing and dancing in the chorus of “The Snow Queen.”

This year, her charisma and dancing ability won her the lead in the theater’s 60th anniversary production, “The Little Mermaid,” which opens Saturday.

Her first starring role is something of a dream come true. “The Little Mermaid” was her favorite movie as a young child, and the part is proving to be the most fun of any she has played.

“While doing the actual performance, you have something to say to yourself,” Caballos said. “You say, ‘I did it. I followed through and I am able to get in front of people and do what I have rehearsed for two or three or four months or more.’

“It’s a really big feeling.”