Tantrums cause uproar at RCPL
The Chamber Theatre for Youth will present A Little Princess at Bostick
By Ceille Baird Welch

Photo by RCPL In the play, The Little Princess, spoiled and high strung student Lottie (seven-year old Brianna Crowson) gets the school in an uproar with her tantrums as Miss Amelia ( Nancy Platt), Sara Crewe (Mary-Riley Clayton), and Miss Minchin (Ceille Baird Welch) attempt to placate her.

When Jami Harris, founder of The Chamber Theatre for Youth, offered me the role of Miss Minchin, in her upcoming rendition of A Little Princess , it was an offer I couldn't turn down.

A Little Princess , a 45 minute adaptation by Harris from the children's classic by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is in rehearsal and will be presented at The Bostick Auditorium of The Richland County Public Library at 3 o'clock on Sunday afternoon, September 17. The show, one of RCPL's many gifts to the community, is absolutely free.

The Chamber Theatre for Youth was born nearly eight years ago when Jami Harris lamented to her mentor Chris Weatherhead of Actors' Theatre of SC, "There are just no roles for kids my age."

Sara Crewe (center) shows her doll Emily to her new schoolmates. (l-r) Charlotte McAdams, Caroline Johnson, Hannah Mount, Haley Sprankle, Catherine Fryland, Mary-Riley Clayton, Lainey Johnson, Brianna Crowson, and Evelyn Stith.

"Don't wait around," Weatherhead told her, "Start something yourself!"

Under the professional guidance of Actors' Theatre and with the support of Richland County Public Library, Harris and her friend, Molly Ingram, became co-founders of a new theatre, The Chamber Theatre for Youth. They adapted scripts from classical children's literature, cast shows, hired directors, and performed in The Bostick. Harris and Ingram were only 14 and 11 years old at the time.

When Harris was 16, she tried her own hand at directing, was good at it, loved it, and has now

directed The Chamber Theatre for Youth in a number of local and statewide presentations and performances.

"My goal for the company," says Harris, a recent college graduate, "is to

provide opportunities for our community's children to gain performance experience; to involve them, and to expose children and adults to the arts through free performances."

A Little Princess boasts a cast which includes 21 children, ages seven to 13 chosen from open audition, who are dedicated to the show, and who are all extremely talented.

"I love the atmosphere of this theatre," says Dutch Fork freshman, 14-year-old Leighton Mount, assistant director and choreographer. And it's no wonder: the community commitment is inspiring.

The three hour rehear-sals go on until as late as 9 o'clock in the evenings, and while moms, dads, grandmas wait smiling and mouthing words, and younger siblings play or nap quietly in corners of The Bostick Auditorium, 21 little girls from Columbia give it all they've got!

The cast features Mary-Riley Clayton as Sara Crewe, Haley Sprankle as Ermengarde, Rachel Ko-prowski as Becky, Lainey Johnson as Lavinia, Catherine Fryland as Jessie, Brianna Crowson as Lottie, Charlotte McAdams as Gertrude, and Evelyn Stith as Emma.

The ensemble in-cludes Frances Dickson-Vandervelde, Taelore Hicks, Torri Hixon, Raigne Carrion, Kristen Jenson, Leslie Hixon, McKenzie Richardson, Ali Bradley, Annie Dixon-Vandervelde, Caroline Johnson, Anna Platt, Hannah Mount, and Jasmin Wilson.

Adults in the cast include Rob Sprankle in two roles, Captain Crewe and Mr. Carmichael; Nancy Platt as Amelia; Keith McAdams as Mr. Carrisford; and Ceille Welch as the very, extremely, truly, mean, evil-beyond--a-doubt headmistress, Miss Minchin.