With new name, longtime children’s theatre group looks to the future

This paid piece is sponsored by Washington Pavilion Management Inc.

A staple of the Sioux Falls children’s arts community has a new name and is ready to involve even more kids in local theatre.

Dakota Academy of Performing Arts, or DAPA, now is named Spotlight Theatre Company, a move that arts leaders say builds on the significant impact the organization has had for kids in Sioux Falls for more than two decades.

Founded by volunteer Sara Crosby in 2000, DAPA began as Chamber Music before adding a series of performances called Plays for Living, which address issues relevant to kids and are performed in schools.

DAPA became part of Washington Pavilion Management Inc. in 2010, overseen at the time by Bob Wendland, who now still has some oversight of it in his role as assistant director of performances.

“When I started working with them, we did two full stage productions a year and maybe six summer camps. Now, we do 15 summer camps and six fully staged productions throughout the school year, so we’ve definitely expanded,” he said.

Plays for Living productions still are performed inside schools, but Chamber Music now is a program under the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, meaning that DAPA – which has all performing arts in the name – truly focuses on theatre.

“I would say the current name worked well for 20-plus years, but it did create some misconceptions,” Wendland said.

“The word ‘academy’ has some lofty connotations, and when we did some focus groups, a lot of people said it felt prohibitive. They thought they might not have the financial means to participate, which isn’t true because there’s great access to scholarships, and others also thought it was an actual school, so we think the new name is a good reflection of what we are today and where we’re going.”

Spotlight Theatre Company, which works with students ages 6 through 18, is managed by the two-person team of senior program specialist Debbi Jones and production coordinator Kelsey Werpy.

“Our mission is to provide opportunities for young people to excel in theatre,” Jones said. “Our biggest challenge is that we are a wonderfully diverse city, and we want to reach out and share our programs with even more young people. We have a wonderful, loyal following, but we have a chance, especially through our new name, to be better known throughout the community.”

The name “Spotlight” reflects the organization well, she added.

“We’re spotlighting how amazing the kids are here, and we are growing the technical capacity we gain adding Kelsey to our team to offer opportunities behind the scenes to make magic happen. There are so many careers in this diverse field, and our goal is to expose our kids to as much as possible.”

The kids also are impressively talented, Wendland said.

“I see theatre all over the country and have yet to see young performers anywhere who make me think we don’t have kids in Sioux Falls who can perform at that level,” he said. “They’re beyond talented. The focus and drive they have to be their best is really, really inspiring. After 14 years, I’m still super-excited to see what these kids can do every time they perform.”

Spotlight Theatre Company also is adding a program called TADA – Theatre Artist Development Academy – as a new professional development program for some of its highest-performing students.

“That’s one of the ways we’re paying homage to our beginnings,” Wendland said. “We’re really about shining a light on others, we’re expanding the technical and production bench with Kelsey on board, and we’re exclusively doing theatre and stage management, which makes it fun to bring all of it under a new name.”

Students who are part of TADA “are really motivated to do this professionally,” Jones said. “They receive monthly professional development experience, work with industry professionals and will see shows and do talkbacks with the teams from the shows or work with touring Broadway artists to really help these students excel.”

Soon, you’ll have multiple opportunities to see Spotlight Theatre Company at work.

The season debuts with Disney’s “Finding Nemo Jr.” at the Orpheum Theater Center Oct. 24-27.

“Rehearsals are underway and it’s kids ages 8 through 18, with more than 60 students in the cast, and they’re having so much fun,” Jones said. “We’re lucky to have amazing teams of directors who are really good educators, and our costumer is very excited to work creatively with the kids to tell a very colorful story.”

From there, “Mean Girls Jr.” takes the stage in November, followed by “A Kid’s Christmas Carol” in December.

“Mean Girls rehearsals also are underway, and those kids are amazing too,” Jones said. “They dove into the script not just from the perspective of a really fun show but an iconic storyline, and they talk about the theme of story, doing exercises to get to know each other better and become the best people they can be.”

Auditions for future shows will be held in early January.

To connect with Spotlight Theatre Company, click here.

 Here’s a look at the full season: