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‘Little Women’ AND BIG PLANS
By LORRAINE WARDLE
CANFIELD
Jennifer Kuczek, owner and operator of the Dublin Grange Theatre Company, is living her dream.
Her arts company is about to celebrate its third anniversary, and its prospects are growing.
Kuczek’s theater programs, dubbed the AfterSchool Arts Academy and the AfterSchool Players, are dedicated to bringing the fun of the arts to students in a safe and creative environment. She believes that all children have talents, and she’s made it her goal to help discover and nurture them.
Kuczek’s dream began as an 8-year-old in her hometown of Elyria. Her mother took her to a summer theater camp performance of “Androcles and the Lion,” and Kuczek was hooked. She attended summer theater camp for years and performed in theater through high school. To her, it was a second home.
Kuczek completed a bachelor’s degree in business at Ohio State University, but theater was always in her heart. As a mom to three young children, Kuczek became a volunteer drama adviser for a number of grade schools in the area and performed in the traveling Magic Carpet Theater Company.
As her children grew older, Kuczek knew that it was time to make her dream come true. She had a vision — a place where kids could come after school and receive enrichment and instruction in the fine arts.
In August 2012, the Garage Theater was born, and its first show was, of course, “Androcles and the Lion.”
The theater quickly outgrew its Boardman home, so in 2014 Kuczek moved her company to the former Dublin Grange building in Canfield at 6571 Fairground Boulevard, just off U.S. Route 224.
Kuczek says her theater is the ideal place for both beginners and seasoned actors. “Theater is so much more than being on stage,” she says. “It’s a place to make friends and let off steam.”
In addition to producing youth theater, Kuczek’s company offers theater and arts classes throughout the year. Currently, Stacy Anderson teaches Acting Basics on Saturday mornings. Other classes include Improv, General Music and Kindermusik. Student interest usually guides the development of new classes, which include one on comic-book writing.
Next up for Dublin Grange Theatre will be a production of the classic “Little Women.” It will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. next Sunday. Call 330-518-4064 or email info@afterschoolarts.com for reservations. Kuczek is playing the mother, one of the few adult roles in the play.
A librarian in the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Kuczek is an avid reader. “Reading makes kids smarter,” she says. Her choices for shows are often classics, which she makes fun “by throwing out random, interesting facts about the authors, time periods, way of life.”
“Little Women” is a bigger endeavor than Kuczek’s past productions. It is a full two-hour, two-act show with a large, young cast and a fully built set.
With the move to Canfield, the theater company also has begun presenting plays with all-adult casts. It staged the rock musical “Next to Normal” last year, and will present “Love Letters” as a fundraiser in 2016.
Kuczek also is looking forward to her Theater Summer Camp, where the production is truly “theater for and by kids.” This year, the show is “A Pirate’s Life for Me,” a musical based on another classic, “Treasure Island.” The camp begins June 15 and culminates in performances in July.
While it may seem that Kuczek’s dream has been fulfilled, her ideas never stop.
Kuczek has a vision of her theater becoming a cultural-arts center, bridging the gap of what kids are missing at school, maybe starting a glee club, or holding a middle-school prom or cotillion.
She will present a “Charm School for Girls” on July 17 and has plans for different programs such as “PreSchool Players” and “HomeSchool Players.”