Junior Civic Theater a place for family bonding
Family is a central theme in this weekend’s Logansport Junior Civic Theater production of “Newsies.”
Most of the young children in the play are orphans who go around selling newspapers and decide to go on strike when the publishers start charging them more to purchase those papers.
Like the newsies, JCT creates an opportunity for all involved to have a found family. But for many, the opportunity to perform with a sibling is something that is cherished.
This weekend, “Newsies” is a chance for brothers and sisters to perform together one last night and for new legacies to begin.
The Ulery family
Luke Ulery remembers a night when he and his siblings were younger and they were in the midst of an argument.
“We were being loud and obnoxious kids,” he recalled.
Despite all the raucous, their mother, Jessica Ulery, walked to the television and put on a DVD of “Phantom of the Opera.”
“We heard the music and we all came in and sat down and were dead silent for the remainder of the show,” Luke said. “We just watched the movie and then she introduced us to more musicals.”
And now the Ulery family has been part of JCT since 2003.
“I grew up doing community theater with my dad and my mother had a huge love for it, too,” said Jessica. “When you were home sick instead of watching cartoons, my mom put on musicals. I promised I wouldn’t force it on (my kids) but just me playing it they gravitated towards it on their own. And my two boys, watching their older sister, decided to follow suit and I remember them watching rehearsals of “The Music Man” in awe. They wanted to stay for rehearsal every night and watch. That and “Phantom of the Opera” really sold them and they’ve done it ever since.”
Luke, soon to be a senior at Pioneer Junior/ Senior High School, and his brother, John, a senior studying theater performance at Huntington University, both credited their sister, Brianna, for inspiring them to join theater and mentoring them along the way.
“The kids since then have naturally gravitated to doing musicals,” their father, Brian, said. “Jess did musicals. Their grandpa did musicals. It’s just in their blood.”
Even Brian has caught the musical bug. He’s now marking spots on the stage and helping move props for JCT.
“It’s really created a bond for us,” said John. “It’s kept us together. It’s been a great adventure for us.”
Ava and Parker
Ava Martin said she is proud of her younger brother, Parker, for taking a chance and performing in his first ever musical. Parker called his sister a role model and said she had taught him a lot during the experience.
The Martin family
Ava Martin recalled joining the cast of “Mary Poppins” when she was in third grade. After doing so, she wanted to quit.
Her parents, Obie and Becky Martin, told her that she had made a commitment to her castmates and she would need to see it through.
“I’m so glad they did because if they hadn’t then I wouldn’t be here today,” Ava said.
This weekend, Ava, now getting ready to start her senior year at Logansport, and her brother, Parker, starting his freshman year, and their nine-year-old sister Margaret, are performing together in “Newsies.”
Ava and Parker have performed in the same plays before but it’s their first time doing a musical together.
Parker had a chance to join Ava in “The Sound of Music” last summer but balked at the idea of doing a musical. He then regretted it after seeing the show.
“We kind of spend all of our time together now,” said Ava. “It’s been so exciting to me to see Parker finally go up on stage and sing in front of people and have the confidence to do things he hasn’t done before. To me, this has been such a proud experience. I’m proud of my younger brother.”
“She’s a role model,” said Parker, who looks to Ava to see how he should be doing things. “I’ve learned a lot of singing skills, how she carries herself on stage, how she delivers her lines.”
Their father is at many practices and Ava said she appreciates that.
“I don’t know if I can express how much I appreciate him being involved not only in this but in our lives,” she said.
“Just last night I couldn’t find my socks so he ran home and bought an entire pack of socks and then brought them back,” said Parker. “I probably still wouldn’t have socks if he hadn’t been here to watch out for me.”
“(Our parents) just really good at supporting us in what we do,” said Ava.
The Hunnicutt Family
As executive director of JCT, Samantha Boller Hunnicutt hasn’t had much sleep during the past week. There where the weekend performance in the heat, the public library show, tech week at McHale, radio interviews and all the coffee to get through it.
Her children, Cameron and Molly, Logansport High School students, and Adam, 10, have been by her side the entire time, except for when they are on stage.
“I think it has been fun,” said Samantha. “They all like doing it. I like doing it. I like being a part of it.”
It’s been 11 JCT seasons for the Hunnicutt family. Samantha has been on the board for 10 of them. She performed when she was a student at Logansport and also participated in JCT. It’s a family legacy now.
“I do a lot of behind-the-scenes things,” she said. “I get everything ready. It’s a lot of work and volunteer time on my part but my children also help. (Molly helps) do the programs. They help me do everything. It’s not just me. It’s kind of a whole family thing.”
She said it had been a lot of fun to see her children grow and build friendships over the years.
“I feel like this has made us want to do more stuff together,” said Molly. “We do practice together. We are onstage together. I feel like it has made us do more together as a family.”
“We do spend a lot more time during the summer because of it,” said Samantha. “During the school year I work at the dance studio and she’s at the dance studio a lot and the boys are with their dad at home a lot. So, this is definitely where we can all be together and spend a few weeks together every night. It’s a lot of fun though.”
Gretchen and Cooper
Siblings Gretchen and Cooper Prifogle will perform for the last time together when the Logansport Junior Civic Theater performs “Newsies” this weekend. Gretchen will attended Purdue University in the fall.
Gretchen and Cooper Prifogle
The first time Gretchen and Cooper Prifogle took the stage together was in 2019’s JCT performance of “Annie” Gretchen was ready to start seventh grade at the time and Cooper was starting fourth grade.
They waited a long time to be on stage again, finally acting together during Logansport High School’s “The SpongeBob Musical” last November.
The Prifogle siblings both agreed that the acting experience has been a fun way to strengthen their bonds together.
“I think it has been a bonding experience for us especially during the last two years since I’ve been driving because we spend all of our time eating McDonalds in my car before and after practice,” said Gretchen. “It’s just really nice to have him be my grounding person because backstage I’m constantly going ‘Cooper, can I talk to you for a minute?’ It’s nice to have him.”
“I think for me it’s just getting to spend time with Gretchen,” said Cooper. “The only reason I am in theater is because of her. I joined because I saw her do it and I thought ‘That looks fun. Also, she’s the number one role model in my life. I look up to her so much and it’s nice that we have something we can share and I can be with her through all of that. We’re just together a lot.”
They both have taught each other how to be a better actor and castmate. For Cooper, Gretchen taught him how to overcome disappoint when not getting cast in a big role or any role at all. She taught him to look forward and that improvement comes with learning from disappointment.
For Gretchen, Cooper taught her to put things in perspective and move on when upset.
After this weekend’s performances of “Newsies,” Gretchen will begin preparing for her freshman year at Purdue. Cooper will be a sophomore at Logansport.
“I’m so sad,” he said.
“I try not to think about it,” said Gretchen.
“It’s going to be hard because Gretchen is my number one best friend,” said Cooper. “We spend so much time together. It’s going to go from spending so much time together to be like weekends, pretty much.”
Emily and Austin
Siblings Emily Pancake and Austin Brooke performed once together in Logansport Junior Civic Theater’s production of “Annie,” playing Rooster and Lily St. Regis. This weekend Austin is one of the leads in “Newsies” and Emily is co-director and choreographer.
Emily Pancake and Austin Brooke
The Brooke family has something special going genetically. Two children are sports stars. The other two are theater stars.
Austin Brooke, an incoming senior at Pioneer, and the eldest Brooke child, the recently married Emily Pancake, now a music teacher at Logansport, have shared a special bond. Austin will perform this weekend while Emily is a co-director and choreographer.
“I’ve always looked up to Emily in more than one way but one of them is just as a performer,” Austin said. “It’s also very nice now that she is involved on the director side of it. I feel really comfortable going up to her and asking questions. I also love asking for her help on the music side of things. It’s very easy for me to be ‘hey, I need help with this song.’ That’s always been nice.”
Emily and Austin performed together once when they played Rooster and Lily St. Regis in the JCT production of “Annie.” It’s an odd pairing for a brother and sister, being a criminal couple and all, but the siblings relished the chance to be a comedy team.
“Austin and I, we always liked implementing some kind of comedy into the roles that we played so that was so special to share a comedic relief role together,” Emily said. “It was really cool for our first and last time performing together.”
Austin said the most important thing he has learned from Emily is how to stay calm in intense situations. Emily said she has learned millions of things from her brother.
“He’s teaching me how to be a good teacher,” she said. “He’s basically teaching me how to be better for others and for him. And he’s taught me a lot like it’s ok to totally make a fool of yourself onstage, even though I did that in high school. He sometimes takes it above and beyond. I love that he is just so real with people. So, it’s ok to be a fool, it’s ok to be crazy in front of people and just be yourself.”
Layla and Eli
Cousins Layla Powell and Elijah Bault have performed together for 14 years. “Newsies” marks their last performance together, but both will attend college at Ball State in the fall.
Layla Powell and Elijah Bault
Cousins Layla Powell and Elijah Bault have been performing together for 14 years. “Newsies” marks the end.
“Eli is like my brother,” Layla said. “It’s definitely great to start our theater career together and end our theater career together.”
“We’ve been doing this a long time and I think we are ending in a really strong way,” said Bault.
For Layla, she remembered being put into theater and immediately loving it.
“When I was the ripe age of four I went to my first Junior Civic Theater Practice and I have been here ever since,” said Bault.
Bault said Powell has taught him how to be a better person and Powell said she learned from Bault that it’s possible to do everything at once.
“The way he does tech and acting and stage managing and once he started doing it all I had to follow the trend,” she said. “Don’t limit yourself to one thing at a time.”
Powell said it was a blessing that they will both attend Ball State in the fall, so as one chapter ends for the cousins, they will move on to the next chapter together.
“It’s really, really sad,” said Bault. “This is the end of an era and it’s been quite the era. So going into this final performance there has been a lot of emotions. This is probably the last one I will act in so it’s a big deal and it’s quite the performance to end on.”
The Gay FamilyWhen Finley Gay takes his final bow Sunday afternoon it will be the end of a successful run for the Gay brothers—Finley, Evan and Liam—in JCT.
The family moved to Logansport from Washington and that’s when the acting bug bit three of the four brothers. Their oldest brother Riley has no interest in theater, but he’s still connected to the arts as a talented visual artist.
“(JCT) has been such a home for our kids who had discovered theater later in their lives,” said their mother, Keva Gay. “To be able to join the board and see the inner workings and then to see how my kids grew in JCT throughout the years meant so much.”
Neither Keva or her husband, Perry, acted when they were younger, though Perry has made guest appearances in his sons’ projects. Keva is now a JCT board member.
Finley initially said no to acting when his brothers, Liam and Evan, started. When he saw them and a few friends in “The Little Mermaid” he wished he had done the play.
“They asked if he would like to do “Little Mermaid” and he adamantly said no,” Keva remembered. “He watched it and said ‘I wish I would have done that.’”
Sometimes Finley will make a move on stage and realize that it’s a gesture he saw one of his brothers perform.
“It was so fun to have them there to support me and they are basically my buddies to have fun with,” he said.
Finley called “Newsies” a good last experience.
“It’s been so nice to watch this whole cast get to know each other and have such awesome chemistry,” he said. “Sam (Fultz) and Austin, I watch them in all their scenes and I think what two great actors they are. I think about how much I’m gonna miss seeing that every day and being surrounded by such wonderful people. Having this be my last show and this is what I’m a part of, it’s a very big privilege.”
“And I’m just a mess,” Keva said. “I’m sad for sure but it’s a good show. They are having fun. In the end that’s all that matters to me, that he has fun in his last show. And to know that he is having fun in his last show makes it easier and better to say goodbye to all of this. I will still be a part of JCT. I’m grateful and I still get to be surrounded by everybody because I love it. But it’s really hard knowing he is our last one. I’m just soaking up every time he is onstage.”