Ludington: Altoona theater group leaves lasting impact

I wish Mary Blakemore could have traveled with us to Santa Cruz to see our two granddaughters perform in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Blakemore started something in Altoona about 25 years ago that led directly to a stage 2,000 miles away.

Back in the 1990s I wrote a feature when Willowbrook students performed a play produced by Blakemore and other parents. Blakemore wanted young people in eastern Polk County to have the same access to theatre arts that they did to sports. The Des Moines Playhouse was the nearest place for classes and participating in plays for kids younger than high school students. The distance involved made it impractical for many families.

The play at Willowbrook eventually led to the organizing of the Altoona Children’s Theater, which became Class Act Productions (CAP).

Fast forward to about 2008. Our grandson Isaac started participating in classes at CAP. His sister Lucy was soon to follow. Before long, they were both acting in the plays. Their parents became regular volunteers. We got to watch as Isaac, Lucy and all their contemporaries gained skill and confidence in performing that carried over into their day-to-day lives.

When their family moved to Santa Cruz in 2015, Isaac and Lucy were veteran performers. They found a new theater group, started performing and making new friends and participated in improv and studied and performed Shakespeare’s works at their school.

Following graduation last spring, Lucy took a part-time job with All About Theatre, a community theater group for kids from elementary through high school. She put her experience to work instructing young people in developing acting skills.

When she was chosen to play the Baker in “Into the Woods," Lucy convinced her 13-year-old cousin Geneva to audition for a non-speaking role in the ensemble. Geneva has long been reluctant to try acting except for the plays she is required to participate in at her school. Her “Into the Woods” experience encouraged her to go after the role of Dorothy in her eighth grade class’s “Wizard of Oz” play coming up this spring. 

Watching Lucy take on a major role in a full-length Broadway script and seeing Geneva singing and dancing made me wonder what other Altoona Children’s Theater/CAP alumni are doing now and how they’ve applied what they learned.

I’m proud and grateful Altoona had Mary Blakemore and those other community members who started something with such far-reaching impact and those who continue it today.

Margaret Ludington has lived in Altoona since 1971. She is a retired staff writer and editorial writer for the Herald-Index. Margaret is a mother of two, grandmother of four. She and her husband travel frequently and have visited every state except Alaska and five Canadian provinces.