A new after-school activity will be offered for children, ages 8-13, at the Backdoor Theatre in the Nederland Community Center. This project is an opportunity to provide a fun, educational, and artistic outlet in musical theatre and has generated community support to get the Children’s Mountain Theatre Troupe up and running. Students will be involved with acting, singing, and dancing in a youth production.

Patrice LeBlanc is the founder and director of the Children’s Mountain Theatre Troupe and she holds a Master of Arts degree in Musical Theater from Regis University. She brings a long history in musical theater programming for youth including over 20 years of experience working as an educator in schools, arts institutes, and theaters where she taught music, drama, and performing arts.

She has directed numerous children’s shows and adds educational training as part of the rehearsal process. LeBlanc feels there is a need for theater in the Peak to Peak area, both as an entertainment event, as well as a community outlet.

“Being in a theatre production is a lot of fun. Theatre helps students develop skills beyond performing. It also encourages teamwork, pro-social behaviors, problem solving, creativity, concentration, and active learning. It provides strong peer relationships with positive communication and collaboration. Exploring characters in drama fosters sensitivity and empathy, and builds social awareness,” she said.

LeBlanc moved to the area in 2018 and began to create and produce original musicals with her husband, Ed Schoenradt. They wrote the comedy Call Me Ned for the Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival which brought live theatre to the community. They currently operate L & M Productions that produces original plays and have developed a theatre troupe called The Belvidere Players who perform historical dramas and musicals about the mountain area.

LeBlanc is starting the Children’s Mountain Theatre Troupe with a production this fall and hopes to do another production in the spring of 2024. Rehearsals are every Monday at the Backdoor Theatre and begin September 18, 2023. A showcase performance is scheduled for November 27, 2023.

LeBlanc hopes to expand the Troupe throughout the mountain area. Tuition for the fall production is $150 per student. Information for the Children’s Mountain Theatre Troupe can be found at info@lmproductions.org or call 303-421-2243. Registration can be accessed at https://lmproductions.org/ children-s-mountain-theatre-troupe.