Preschool was tough on shy Norah Doney. Mornings, her mom, Haley, would drop the 4-year-old off at Warrenton Grade School, then stick around for half an hour or more, until Norah calmed enough for Haley to leave. Then, Haley enrolled Norah in a class at Kids Make Theatre in Astoria, and something just short of miraculous occurred.

“She came out of the first class absolutely beaming with a confidence I’d never seen in her,” Haley Doney recalled. “This was a completely new experience for her. Maybe it was the teachers. Maybe it was the activities they did. Maybe she made new friends. It was just like a 360 for her. She was so excited. It looked like there was a fire started in her soul.”

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OREGON CULTURAL HUBS: An occasional series

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That same passion has been burning in kids ages 3½ to 18 since the day in April 2023 that a generous gift made the year-round theater program possible.

“Kids Make Theatre is really about empowering young people through the imagination, so they have a creative community where they can thrive and are cared about and know their voice matters, and they can learn to create and collaborate,” said Hilary Adams, director of Kids Make Theatre (KMT). “It’s helping the young people get into the fullness of who they are in a safe, creative, and fun environment.”

The program not only brings low-cost classes in theater and dance to an area where such offerings are scarce, but in doing so, also teaches the young attendees how to work collaboratively and instills self-confidence.

The story of KMT began when a local couple, Mike and Laura Brosius, approached Jennifer Crockett, director of Astoria’s Liberty Theatre, with an offer of $100,000 seed money.

“He said he wanted to give us money for a program, and was there anything that we always wanted to do, but never had the money to start it?” Crockett said. “I took it to the staff, and the staff unanimously said, ‘We’ve always wanted to start a children’s theater here at the Liberty.’ At the time, there weren’t any theater programs in the schools. There’s a club that came together once a year to do a musical at our high school, and that was about it.”  

Next came the search for a director, which quickly led to Adams. She began directing plays as a teenager, worked on Broadway as well as overseas, and holds two masters’ degrees, one in applied theater and the other in ethical leadership. She also, as it turned out, had worked with the Liberty Theatre’s office manager in New York.

“Hilary had a background of basically being the person you would call, when your children’s theater was struggling, to come in and fix it,” Crockett said.  “And she was excited to build one from the ground up, using the things that she’s learned along the way.” 

In the year and a half KMT has operated under the Liberty Theatre’s wing, 386 kids from North Coast towns, Long Beach, Wash., and as far away as Portland have taken part in one or another of 76 programs. Those programs include camps, workshops, and field trips, with more added to the list all the time.  

Past offerings have included classes and workshops in stage combat, mask-making, hip hop dance, fairytale acting, and improv. One workshop involved a classroom hike based on The Hike: (Nature Book for Kids, Outdoors-Themed Picture Book for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners).

“They made binoculars, hats, and vests and went on theatrical journey,” Adams said. “It was so real, the kids were telling their parents they went on a hike.”

Last summer, KMT hosted a production camp using Peter Pan for Young Performers by Jennifer Reif, an early-reader script based on the classic story of Peter Pan. Campers learned and practiced technique and design, acting, and the ensemble creation of theater stories. Following camp, they put on their first “shareformance” of the script, with each camper having a role.

The hybrid word, shareformance, allows the students to keep the focus on the process, while easing some of the pressures that come with performing, Adams said. “We’re all about meeting the kids where they are, supporting them as they grow.… When we perform in theater, be it sharings in a classroom or full productions, we are continuing a process which now includes the audience as fellow collaborators. Our audiences are very important as they are ‘test audiences’ that help our students continue to grow by offering real-time feedback, learning, and the opportunity to practice the art of sharing their theater stories with others.”

The original $100,000 was start-up money only, and KMT continues fundraising to keep growing, while striving to keep the program affordable. Thanks to one anonymous donor who contributes $150 for every student registration, KMT is able to charge only $15 for a series of six or eight classes, workshops, or camps. If even that amount is a hardship, they offer scholarships. The group is also committed to paying its teachers.

“We don’t have volunteers,” said Adams. “We have wonderful people who teach here, and it’s really important that we are providing income for local educators or artists. A lot are teachers in public schools, and others are artists, and it’s a great way to make extra money for doing something they love.”

Gabrielle Brinkman has taught at KMT for about a year. Raised in Astoria, she moved to Newberg to attend George Fox University, later returning to Astoria with “fresher eyes” and a “new appreciation” for art in the community. She’s worked with students like Norah Doney and seen repeatedly the increased confidence in those who start out shy and unsure. She’s also been surprised by students.

“We did some lab work with teenagers,” Brinkman said. “It was a little scary, because teenagers put on this façade, or they’re moody. One kid in particular very much had this façade. By the end of it, when we were getting ready to share the scenes we practiced, he was trying to keep himself busy; he didn’t want to make eye contact with us or be vulnerable. But when we asked him how he enjoyed the time, he said, ‘It was amazing.’ That was the last thing we expected to hear from this child, and I almost cried.”

Then there are those for whom the theater group seems almost as miraculous as little Norah’s sudden exuberance. Maria and Jon Fasching recently moved to Astoria from Long Beach, Wash. Both towns lacked opportunities for elementary-age kids beyond sports.

“My younger daughter was involved in ballet,” said Maria Fasching. “Anytime they needed boys, like in Nutcracker, my son, Porter, popped in. He was really interested in drama and theater, but we just really had no opportunities for it.”

Then came KMT. “We were immediately drawn to it,” Fasching said. “You could tell there was so much attention and care and professionalism and experience. It just felt like every detail had been thought of and thought through. I feel like the kids really felt like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is something really special.’”

So far, Porter has taken acting classes, including all the behind-the-scenes work for putting on a production; he’s studied stage combat fighting and learned magic tricks.

“He’s been involved in some way since they started,” Fasching said. “My child loves the stage. For him it was just — he found his people. He’s found a place where they like him for who he is. They give him tools and because of that, he is a little more confident. He knows what he is doing and that other people are going to find value in it. It’s just been amazing. It’s been a huge blessing for our community. A gift.”