CLEARWATER - Eckerd Theater Company is getting ready to take its message of tolerance, friendship and diversity on the road.
The actors are leaving on a tour to perform an adaptation of The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, which won the Newbery Honor in 1945. They hope to help children think about others instead of bullying them.
"Sometimes it's easier just to make stories up about people than to take the time to get to know them," says one character, Wanda Petronski, who wears the same faded blue dress to school every day.
When the children's taunting makes Wanda, played by Becky Dixon, decide to leave the school, a character named Maddie laments, "The reason I felt so bad was that I knew it was wrong and I had said nothing."
Those themes give the production a timeless quality.
"It's amazing that from 1944 to 2004, it's a story that still needs to be heard," said Melody Craven-Heinz, company manager and portrayer of self-involved Peggy, at a recent dress rehearsal of the play.
"It's not just a children's theater when we accept this job," said Craven-Heinz, who has been with the company for 10 seasons and in theater for 23. "It's a mission. We know they're going to get something out of it. We're presenting something that can be life changing."
Children have told cast members they had no idea that their words could be that harmful.
"To have a 10-year-old come up and admit that they were a bully or they had been bullied, it's a powerful thing," Craven-Heinz said.
On the road, the company keeps an inspiration book of stories from parents, teachers and children.
"A child can come up and tell you their most inner most hurt or secret. That's a blessing," Craven-Heinz said.
The five-member cast performs nine months of the year, traveling to the faithful who ask them back every year. The tour has become more extensive each year, traveling throughout Florida and to North Carolina, Kentucky and Missouri and even to Canada one year.
Although the plays and players have changed over the years - this year there are two new members - the Eckerd Theater Company has performed for more than 800,000 children and has been in residence since 1988.
The company is this state's only performing arts center that produces its own professional theater company for youth and family audiences, according to Justin Mercer, marketing coordinator at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
The group performs three plays a year for different age groups - preschool, first- to fifth-graders, and mid teens - with themes of diversity, multiculturalism, self-worth, loyalty and tolerance. This year is the first year they will have two African-American actors join the team.
They will start in September by performing Vote, a production for teenagers about the history of voting.
"We find pieces that really speak to them where they are," said artistic director Julia Flood, who has been with the company since 1998.
The cast is in a partnership with teachers, elaborating on a classroom lesson and doing workshops and theater games with the children.
"You don't feel like you're entertaining. You've actually done something," said Jared O'Rourke, who plays the annoying Tommy and is in his second year with the company.
Meanwhile, schoolchildren can get lessons in theater-going, change of scenery, character development and music, along with a bigger lesson.
With the rigorous schedule they perform two to three times per day, Craven-Heinz says the traveling helps her discipline.
They may be at a huge performing arts center one week and an elementary or gymnasium the next. She credits artistic director Flood for keeping them focused on their audience.
"Sometimes you wonder. You hope they're getting it," said Craven-Heinz. "There are mornings you are tired. You've traveled all night. But then a kid hugs you.
"It feeds my soul."
I F YO U GO
The Hundred Dresses, part of the St. Petersburg Times Family Series program, will open Nov. 27 at Murray Theater at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
