San Carlos Children's Theater
Creating Community Through Performing Arts
Imagine a hushed, excitement-filled auditorium. The music starts. The curtain rises. It’s showtime.
San Carlos Children’s Theater (SCCT) youth actors tamp down jitters by being well-prepared and ready to entertain the crowd. Working as a practiced team, the kids have learned their lines, dance moves, and songs.
As an added confidence boost, mom or dad is in the wings backstage. Not because they’re stage parents but because they are changing sets, doing wardrobe, or ensuring performers are ready to go on.
This scene is a reality that local kids and parents experience because of SCCT’s unique philosophy of community theater. Starting in 1990 as classes through the San Carlos Parks and Recreation Department, SCCT was incorporated into an independent nonprofit performing arts theater in 1992. For many years, SCCT ran after-school theater programs at Central Middle School’s Mustang Hall in San Carlos, serving San Carlos, Redwood City, and Belmont parks and recreation departments.
In 2021, SCCT moved into its own place, a former dance school on Old County Road in Belmont, which it shares with Broadway Babies and Kids. The dedicated rehearsal space has allowed SCCT to expand its offerings to twelve productions a year, twelve to eighteen classes a quarter, and ten camps a year. Main Stage productions still occur at Mustang Hall or McKinley Auditorium for Redwood City School District shows.
SCCT’s outstanding theater classes have earned it a spot on Bay Area Parent magazine’s Hall of Fame as a long-standing family favorite. SCCT trains students ages 1-18 in performing arts and technical production through after-school drama classes, musical theater camps, specialized workshops, and full-scale productions.
Ticket sales, class registration fees, and annual fundraisers all help support SCCT’s operation, but grants are essential for the organization. The Community Foundation of San Carlos has granted San Carlos Children’s Theater $40,500 between 2020 and 2023. Executive Operations Director Donna Avanzino says, “What’s key about the Community Foundation grant is keeping fees low for families and supporting our teaching artists.”
Remaining accessible for children of all income levels to learn and create with others is key to SCCT’s mission. If a family is in financial need, SCCT doesn’t turn anyone away, giving parents the opportunity to financially contribute what they can. Equally important to SCCT is making it possible for local teaching artists to share their passion. “During the pandemic, so many artists left the area,” says Executive Artistic Director Caitlin Savage. “We’re trying to really make sure we’re able to support our artists so they can stay and keep teaching for us and keep making the impact that they do.”
Putting on entertaining, fun productions students feel great being a part of is one of SCCT’s goals, and so is building community through collaboration amongst students and directors. Students are expected to attend every rehearsal, even if they are not working with a director. They can use the time in other ways, like helping each other memorize lines or dance steps.
Directors prompt actors to make their own creative decisions during productions. When Caitlin directs students, she’ll ask, What do you think happens here? “Our goal is to give students the skills to figure it out on their own, and that they know their characters better than the directors do so they can make decisions about what their character would do in that moment,” she says.
If students want to be cast for performances like the upcoming summer musical who dunit “Curtains” for teen actors or The SpongeBob Musical Youth Edition for ages eight to fourteen, they have to audition for a part. Auditions consist of performing a monologue or song, a cold read of a scene from the script in front of the directors, and then a dance audition with other students.
For summer shows, like SpongeBob, many of the students are new, so SCCT has switched to group auditions. “We found doing a group audition was really helpful in integrating the younger kids into the community and making them feel supported. The older kids can go first and show them what it looks like to do an audition. The older kids cheer on the younger kids and are so proud of them,” says Caitlin.
Passionate teenage actors have carved out a space for themselves at SCCT through the Ghostlight program. Ghostlight is an advanced theater experience where teens act, sing, and run tech for their performances. “This winter, we did Chicago: Teen Edition in two weeks,” says Caitlin. “They auditioned on a Wednesday, and then we rehearsed Sunday to the next Saturday, and that’s when we performed.” Some alums go on to study theater in college or land acting roles or crew positions for professional productions. But those who don’t still gain useful life skills from their time learning and exploring at SCCT.
The theater’s co-op model makes frequent, high-caliber performances possible. Families must dedicate at least twenty-five hours to each performance their child is in. Parent participation in after-school or community productions has several benefits, one being community with other families. “One of the comments we receive the most is: We met so many great people! We love working with the other families. We met people who we would never otherwise meet in our community,” says Donna.
Parents expressing themselves through creative projects, either learning a new skill or applying dormant artistic abilities, is another co-op benefit. “Parents who work a tech job come and do artwork for sets and paint a flat. They don’t normally have a creative outlet. They get to see it on stage, and their kids are excited about it. They’re like, my dad made that!” says Caitlin. The parents enjoy doing something different, and they get to interact with their kids backstage. Kids take pride in having their parents around to help.
Many of SCCT’s board members are passionate parents of theater students who want to give back to the organization and strengthen it for incoming classes. The board oversees fundraising, programming, and major organizational-level decisions like finding and securing the current rehearsal space.
And the students themselves take on leadership roles at SCCT. The Youth Advisory Board runs special events and helps plan upcoming shows, weighing in on what to perform next. Teens can further their leadership and theater skills by becoming junior assistant directors and choreographers, technical crew assistants, and class or camp aides.
SCCT actors marched alongside SpongeBob in the 2024 Hometown Days parade, and youth volunteers ran the fishbowl toss booth at Burton Park. Youth leaders also run SCCT’s annual Party in the Park fundraiser, a fun afternoon of games, food, and theatrical performances. “What we offer the community is invaluable. Educating the kids with life skills and building community means a lot to me,” says Donna.
SCCT creates so many opportunities for the community to express themselves through the performing arts. Getting involved is easy and fun! Check the parks and recreation listings and sign your kids up for an improv class, summer camp, or stage production. Or be part of the audience and take the whole family to see the latest show.
$10,000 granted for general operating support (Fall 2023)
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$10,000 granted on 11/9/2022 for general operating support (Fall 2022)
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$7,500 granted on 11/26/2021 for general operating support. (Fall 2021)
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$5000 granted on 6/8/2021 to provide General Operating Support for San Carlos Children's Theater Camp this summer. (Spring 2021)
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San Carlos Children’s Theater granted an additional $1,000 on 10/28/2020. Granted $7,000 on 5/18/2020 to continue its current program, including online and virtual production opportunities for local children and continued employment for staff.