By Alec Clayton
People who can fondly recall the early days of community theater in Olympia may remember a couple of girls who were involved in many now historic productions: Heidi Fredericks and Colleen Powers. Now with children of their own, both of these women have theater in the blood, with lifelong histories of working in theater, especially children’s theater.
When Capital Playhouse closed, its vaunted children’s theater program, Kids At Play, Fredericks and Powers saw a gaping hole that needed to be filled. The duo promptly started Apple Tree Productions, a production company specializing in children’s theater. The name sounds more like a professional production company than a children’s summer theater camp because that is the model they work on, but it is a little of both.
“We felt that kids who grew up in [Capital Theater’s Kids at Play] would want to continue,” Powers says. Both women acknowledge that there are fine children’s theater programs in the community but feel there is a need for more.
Fredericks grew up in Olympia and was in the very first Kids At Play show 28 years ago when she was eleven. She took part in every one of their summer shows after that until she was grown. She also did shows with Harlequin Productions. As a teenager she played Ophelia in “Hamlet” at Harlequin and Julia in “Two Gentlemen of Verona.” Plus she was in the first “Rocky Horror Show,” twenty years ago and a few years later was again in “Rocky,” this time at Capital Playhouse.
Fredericks studied theater at Timberline High School under the tutelage of Brenda Amburgy, and after graduating she went to the Boston Conservatory to study musical theater, and later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Back home in Olympia, she worked for a time with the Washington State House of Representatives and for the Washington State Highway Patrol. She returned to college in Minnesota and then came back home to Olympia for good where she started working on Capital Playhouse’s Students on Stage program twelve years ago.
Fredericks directed a number of shows including recent productions of “Hair,” “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.”
Powers is a graduate of Illinois State University with an education degree. She has taught English and Drama at Olympia High School and directed the Kids At Play summer program for the past 22 years. She directed “Oliver” at Capital Playhouse and “Grease” and “Places in the Heart” at Saint Martin’s University.
After the Kids At Play program was ended, many elementary schools called her to ask if she would still be doing plays. That was when Fredericks and Powers decided to start Apple Tree Productions. “We felt that even though there is a lot of great children’s theater, we felt we have our own style,” explaining that rather than a major emphasis on instruction they use an audition, rehearse and perform model, which gives the kids a feeling for what professional theater is like.
This will be Apple Tree’s first summer season. In addition to Fredericks and Powers, Amburgy will teach there this summer. Other adult staff include Bruce Haasl as set designer, Dennis Kurtz as technical director. Rehearsals for “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” begin on June 30 with performances slated for July 31 to August 3 at Tumwater High School. Apple Tree will also have a show for special needs kids called “Showcase” to run June 30 to July 25.
Enrollment in the program for children ages seven to eighteen is open until June 30. The cost is $500 for a five-week program. Only those enrolled in the program can audition for the shows.
Apple Tree Productions will also host a special Children’s Theater Day in Huntamer Park in Lacey in late July in conjunction with Olympia Family Theatre and Creative Theatre Experience and other area theater companies. There will be games and celebration and performances of scenes from shows.
For more information, visit Apple Tree Productions on Facebook or email Heidi Fredericks at heidilf8@gmail.com. She can also be reached at (360) 359-6685.
