Role model

A 40-year stage veteran brings his experience to young students in his growing acting school that now numbers more than 100.

By THERESA WILLINGHAM

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 28, 2001

CARROLLWOOD -- Steve Henry knows theater inside and out, on-stage and backstage. He has put in more than 40 years as an actor, director, writer, scenic artist, costume designer, makeup specialist and puppeteer. He's worked before big audiences and small, to accolades and quiet acknowledgements.

So what's he doing in a Carrollwood shopping center, wedged between a martial arts school and a personal training studio?

He's doing what he loves best: teaching children of all ages to love the theater.

"I'm a teacher first, always," Henry says. Nothing is more satisfying, he says, than "to see a shy, quiet, reserved individual absolutely just explode on stage with a sense of confidence."

His Curtain Call school offers courses in acting, from methodology to tools and techniques; voice training; dance; technical skills; writing; and plenty of practical experience. For the first 2 1/2 years, the school operated out of a small theater workshop environment.

Expanding services and increased student enrollment -- currently up to around 110 -- called for a commensurate expansion in space. So in September, Curtain Call packed up and began moving next door.

The new facility is triple the size of the old one and, when finished, will include offices, a dressing room and storage facilities. It's a considerable effort that has become an integral part of the classroom curriculum, as students and their families have pitched in to help.

The whole construction project adds context to the theater experience, says Henry, and contributes to the sense of community and camaraderie for which the theater is known.

"The whole concept is that theater is an experience that provides a real insight into who we are and how we fit into the world around us," Henry says. "The theater experience is one of the most complete experiences a child can have."

Children get "an opportunity to understand lifestyles and motives better, and they get to do that in a safe environment."

Jerry and Patty Lindgren, their daughter, Becky, 11, and their son, Andy, 15, have all been happily wrapped up in Curtain Call for 2 1/2 years. They spend their Saturdays hammering, sawing and nailing. They spend weeknights bringing their daughter to classes, and weekends at play rehearsals.

Curtain Call is producing five plays this spring season and Becky is in two of them. "Our daughter started out in King Tut (a Curtain Call original production) and we started during the shows, helping out here and there," said Patty Lindgren, who will be company manager this year. "Our son got involved backstage."

Henry, she says, "treats all the children equally and respectfully. He doesn't talk down to them." She thinks the experience has helped Becky socially, and her husband adds, "I think it has helped us socially."

The Lindgrens are not alone in their dedication.

"We have volunteers working 30 hours a week," Henry says. "It's a family team effort, with everyone involved, from the parents to the students. And the students feel better about it because they've participated in the birth of another phase of our company."

Students at Curtain Call range in age from 5 to adult. Henry teaches all the classes, at a base tuition rate of $50 a month, per student. Classes last an hour, and are held twice a week at varying days and times.

This year's season includes three original plays: Captain Hook, Shine and Bad Boys. And two traditional favorites: Brighton Beach Memoirs and the venerable Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz was a sellout show for 16 weeks last year. Curtain Call's production also has the support of Roger Baum, the great grandson of Oz author, L. Frank Baum.

As construction on the new theater steams ahead, Henry's vision for Curtain Call is as bright as the lights on Broadway.

"One of our next programs that we'll open during the day is the Tiny Tots, for preschoolers who will come in with their parents and experience the theater," he said.

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