Each year, DGN Theatre puts on a musical with student participation across many different areas. Whether it be acting, lighting, scenery, costumes, playing in the pit orchestra, or another of the many ways to get involved, over 100 DGN students come together to help make this annual production a success. This year, however, student involvement is taking on a whole new meaning. For this spring’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, fourth through sixth graders from surrounding elementary schools have been brought in to take on the role of the youth chorus in the show. 

Not only will this experience potentially be something completely new for these younger students, it will also be a new concept for staff and students involved in past DGN Theatre productions.

“This is the first time, to my knowledge, that DGN has produced a show that directly calls for a children’s chorus,” director of the youth chorus and DGN choir director Beth O’Riordan said.

The reason behind DGN taking on this idea lies in the nature of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as a show. When the music for it was first being written in 1967, it began as a piece ranging from 15 to 20 minutes in length and was originally commissioned for a children’s school choir in London. 

Following this performance, the composer of the tune continued the development of the musical score until it was fully expanded into the full version of the show that exists today. In order to stay true to these original foundations of the show, it is typical that to this day productions include a youth chorus. This is the route that O’Riordan and other directors of the youth chorus took for the DGN production as well, rather than finding high schoolers to fill in these roles.

“Despite many changes and additions, the inclusion of a children’s chorus has been at the heart of this show, and truly is separate from the high school chorus part,” O’Riordan said.

With the decision being made that DGN’s production of the show would hold on to this youth chorus group, the next step was to find local students who would be interested in taking on the opportunity.

An invitation was extended to all fourth through sixth graders in the surrounding area, school districts 58 and 68, to audition February 7 after school at DGN. A Google Form was provided for parents of interested students to give information about their student and register them for an audition. 

Contrary to the more formal auditions that are held for high school students to place them in their roles for the show, this day for the younger students was held more to assess interest and their availability to commit the rehearsals and shows to their schedule.

“When they arrived, we taught them to sing a section of the song “Go, Go, Go Joseph”, and then our student choreographers taught a portion of the choreography for that song” O’Riordan said. “Our goal in the audition process was to make sure they could handle and enjoy the process of learning something and performing it in a short amount of time”.

Given this lower stakes format for the fourth through sixth graders, 34 ended up taking on spots in the chorus. As their rehearsals begin, the main goals are to make sure that they are learning their music, consistently showing up to rehearsals, and most importantly, having a good time.

“More so than anything, we really wanted to give everybody the opportunity,” youth chorus director Kim Maslo said. “It really came down to, was everybody comfortable and excited about this situation? And then availability. Those were really the two determining factors”.

These students’ availability to show up to most, if not all, of their rehearsals is crucial to their success in the show. While the high school actors involved in the show have the ability to rehearse for a few hours a night, multiple days a week, the youth chorus only meets on Tuesdays, with three additional Saturday rehearsals.

“These first three weeks we’re just doing an hour to teach them some music and help them dip their toe in the water,” Maslo said. “After that, we’re going to start with two hour rehearsals where we’ll do a little singing and add a little movement. It’s really important that they come to those rehearsals because if they can’t, it’s really hard to catch them up.”

As the show gets closer, the attendance of both the youth chorus and high school students at rehearsals will be even more critical. The two weeks leading up to the opening of the production are known as tech week and dress rehearsal week, in which rehearsals are everyday for many hours at a time. 

Although this is a process that can be long and taxing for even the high school students, these are rehearsals that the younger students will be asked to attend as well.

“We rehearse with the youth choir weekly until late March, at which point they join the cast in regular daily rehearsals, including our tech and dress rehearsals,” O’Riordan said. “It’s at that point that they will truly feel integrated into the show”.

Not only will this be important to the success of everyone involved in the show, but it’s at this point in the process that the community aspect of the show will truly begin to come together.

“I’m excited for once we’re able to start putting them together to just kind of buddy up the big kids and the little kids,” Maslo said. “I always feel like whenever there’s kids in the show, everyone takes on this really big brother sister vibe and it’s just warmer and more welcoming”.

With this community being created comes the opportunity for the younger students to take on experiences that will introduce them to the world of theatre, and prepare them to be the future of the theatre program at DGN. 

Sophomore Meg Matune is a dance captain and member of the cast for the show, in addition to helping with the rehearsals for the youth chorus. She recounts experiences she had when she was younger that led her to her involvement in theatre today.

“When I was their age, I was in Downers Grove Children’s Choir that met once a week for one hour,” Matune said. “However, I never got the opportunity to do theatre so young. This experience sets them up for success by building confidence early on. By learning how to perform in a group like this, the kids develop skills that will follow them for years to come! Most importantly, they get exposed to music and are a part of a larger arts community”.

With this being an opportunity that is not always common for kids this age, the importance of them getting the full experience out of it grows even more significant. This means not just maintaining a supportive community across those involved in the show, but also that the local community is equally as supportive to make this the type of experience that members of the youth chorus want to continue participating in. 

You can be a part of this community by coming to see the hard work of all students and staff involved in the show pay off, when Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat comes to DGN April 16, 17, and 18.