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Kids' lively summer play has a sober message

Young actors hope to entertain but also show what cigarettes, alcohol, cocaine and ecstasy do to the body.

By ELIZABETH MILLER
Published June 24, 2005

The costumes may be silly and the Motown music may be fun, but the message of Dreamers Against Drugs is real and serious.

Dreamers Against Drugs is a show written and performed by Tampa area youth to educate kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

"This year, the show is based on what drugs do to specific organs in your body," said 16-year-old performer Patrick Kazanis of Tampa Palms. The Tampa Bay Technical student will bring his antidrug message to the stage dressed as a pack of cigarettes.

The Dreamers Against Drugs program, now in its 16th year, is run by Tampa's Parks and Recreation Department. Auditions were held in early May, and the cast began rehearsing as soon as school let out. In three weeks, the nine kids, who are 12 to 16, put together a show to perform for their peers at area recreation centers, juvenile detention centers and schools during the summer.

Each year, the cast, the skits and the musical styles are different. This summer, with actors dressed as different drugs, the costumes entertain and give young audiences an immediate visual aid in the understanding of the impact of drug abuse.

"Drugs are a huge problem," said Kazanis, who is returning to Dreamers Against Drugs this summer for the third time. "I have a friend who is an alcoholic, and it's pretty bad. I think if we can stop people from doing drugs at a younger age, it can keep them from having a problem when they get older."

The show incorporates acting, music and dance to appeal to kids of various ages and backgrounds.

"A lot of kids have already had experiences with drugs. They may have tried it or known kids at school that are into drugs," said program director David Jankiewicz. "It's so easy to fall prey to those things."

Jankiewicz has performed in professional theater in Tampa and Philadelphia, and has worked at the Tampa recreation department for 16 years. He is a puppeteer at local schools through the year for the city's Creative Arts Theater and directs the Dreamers Against Drugs program each summer.

Jankiewicz and his cast tried to include as much information as possible about drugs, from cigarettes and alcohol to cocaine and ecstasy, in the 30-minute show and still make it fun. The results can make a real difference in kids' lives, he said.

"I hear from kids all the time after the show that they've learned something they didn't know," Jankiewicz said. "It definitely has a very noticeable impact on the audience."

By showing kids what different drugs do to the body, he hopes the performers will "get the message across to other kids that it's just not the way to go."

Dreamers Against Drugs performs at the following locations next week.

- Monday - 10:30 a.m. at the Jim Walter Boys and Girls Club, 4002 S Coolidge Ave.; and at 1:30 p.m. at the Rey Park Recreation Center, 2301 N Howard Ave.

- Tuesday - 10:30 a.m. at the Liberty Mompierre Boys and Girls Club, 4160 W Mango Ave.; and 1:30 p.m. at the Oak Park Recreation Center, 5400 E 15th Ave.

- Wednesday - 10:30 a.m. at the Barksdale Senior Center, 1801 N Lincoln Ave.; and 1:30 p.m. at the Forest Hills Recreation Center, 724 W 109th Ave.

- Thursday - 10 and 11 a.m. at Maniscalco Elementary School, 939 Debuel Road; and 1:30 p.m. at the Kid Mason Recreation Center, 1101 N Jefferson St.

For show dates in July, call the Tampa Parks and Recreation Department's Creative Arts Theater at 931-2106.

[Last modified June 23, 2005, 08:09:06]