Children's Musical Shows to Open at Edmond

The Thoroughly Modern Millie Junior production, which opens Friday night at Edmond Town Hall Theater and runs through Saturday, features a mix of new and veteran  actors in the sixth and eighth grade.

"This is my 10th musical, my fourth musical here," Victoria Madden, 13, of Newtown who has the lead role of Millie, said prior to a dress rehearsal this week.

The play is one of several organized by Newtown-based Sabrina Encore Productions, a popular South Main Street theater program that draws children from across the region, including Southbury and Brookfield.

In addition, first through fifth graders will perform Disney's Sleeping Beauty Kids for two Saturday afternoon shows at Edmonds. Students in ninth grade and older also will put on Les Misérables School Edition next weekend at the Ridgefield Playhouse.

Owner and namesake of the theater program, Sabrina Post has cultivated a reputation for putting out high-quality shows that has attracted a following, several of the children in the program said, adding they have participated in other programs.

"They're not as good as here," Madden said.

Students not only have to audition for their parts but they also participate in callbacks.

"Callbacks are the best," said Kyle Watkins, 12, of Newtown, another of the actors in Thoroughly Modern Millie.

The students have different reasons for being in a summer theater group, including that their fourth-grade teacher introduced it or because an older sister had participate in the program.

 "I did competitive dance," Evan DeBenedetto, 12, of Ansonia, who stars opposite Victoria, said in explaining his interest.

In this "junior" version of Thoroughly Modern Millie, changes were made to make it more appropriate for young teenagers.

"It's shorter and it takes some parts of the song out but you still get the gist," said Mike Eisele, 13.

The play tells of a small-town girl who comes to New York during the roaring 1920s.

Another element of the production many of the students said they had to learn or continue to practice was tap dance.

"There's a lot of tapping, more tapping than any other musical I've done," said Victoria, who counted herself among those with tap dancing experience.

Seats to the play range from $12-$17 a seat and in some cases can be purchased online. Check the Sabrina Encore Production website for more detailed information and times.

Editor's note: Evan DeBenedetto stars in Thoroughly Modern Millie opposite Victoria Madden. An earlier version of this article identified the wrong lead male actor.