Rainbow Company Staff Accept the CTFA Medallion Award

On Friday, August 5th, 2010, Karen McKenney, J Neal, Kris Shepherd and Toni Molloy-Tudor accepted theChildren's Theater Foundation of America Medallion award in San Francisco, California. 

Children's theatre pioneer, Moses Goldberg, gave this speech before presenting the award to Karen and Toni

Las Vegas, Nevada: the name evokes images of an exotic fairyland where dreams might come true, or might be shattered by the laws of chance. But, of course, real people live in Las Vegas – real families with real children. And those children have their own dreams.  Since 1976, those children and families have had the Rainbow Company Youth Theatre to inspire and nurture those dreams. The Company is an innovative program of the City of Las Vegas, Arts and Community Events Division, that recognizes the skills, confidence, and discipline to be gained through direct participation of youth in the arts.   Adults and children perform together to present a five play season to the community, but the core of the Company is probably its Student Ensemble – consisting of 40 students age 10 through high school who plunge intensively into a yearlong immersion in the world of theatre. Classes, workshops and outreach programs touch many other residents, and an annual tour brings a dynamic performance to parts of the state that may have no other exposure to live theatre.  Since there are very few cities that sponsor this kind of program, I asked the Mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, “Why?” His response:

“The Rainbow Company is a cultural jewel for Las Vegas and has been recognized as one of the top children's theatre programs in the country.  Since its inception in 1976, the Rainbow Company has had a positive impact on the lives of youth in our community.  Las Vegas is a world class city so it is only fitting that it is home to a world class program like the Rainbow Company."

As might be expected, the Company has won many distinguished honors during the past 34 years. In 1980 they received the Winifred Ward-Zeta Phi Etta Award for the best new Children’s Theatre in America, and in 2007, they received Nevada’s Governor’s Arts Award for Leadership in Arts Education.  Only four full-time staff members anchor the program and all are exceptionally noteworthy for their longevity, teamwork, and passion for the program.  On behalf of the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America, I am honored to present Corey Medallions to the Rainbow Company Youth Theatre, to its Education Director, Dr. Toni Molloy-Tudor, and to its Artistic Director, Karen McKenney."

Stage Direction

Rainbow Company teaches youths all facets of theater while producing quality shows.

Actors Ken Kucan, from left, Cory Covell and Delancey Prince rehearse in Rainbow Company Youth Theatre's production of "Orphan Train," which runs through April 11 at Reed Whipple Cultural Center. 

The Glade Plug-in Girl dominates the scene.

In a room focused on improvisation, other theater student superheroes flaunt irregular powers, neglecting the common Superman personas and adopting more abstract personalities.

To the students attending a class in the Rainbow Company Youth Theatre program, embodying a scented device comes as no surprise.

"Rainbow Company is a theater experience designed to give professional training for teenagers and the very best theater performances for families," says Karen McKenney, the company's artistic director since 1992.

A committed atmosphere surrounds young people from 10 to 18 years of age who are accepted into the company's ensemble student group. Limited contact with the children's parents emphasizes the independence and responsibility required for such an obligation.

"We treat them like adults," McKenney says. "They are given schedules, we have little parent interaction, and we sometimes have higher standards than university programs."

For those accepted into the program through auditions every August, ensemble classes such as monologue studies and theater dance begin every Monday evening. Mandatory show participation occupies most other evenings.

Courses such as costume design and set design offer students a chance to pursue other interests outside of acting but still related to theater.

With so much time required to produce high-quality shows, the company's members quickly develop time-management skills, often willingly sacrificing school dances or other social functions to attend classes and rehearsals at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center.

"Rainbow is kind of like 'Fight Club.' As in, 'The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club,' " Chelsee Bergen, a Northwest Career and Technical Academy senior, says with a grin. "People outside of it don't really get why you're missing prom."

A sense of camaraderie surrounds each member of the company because of its demanding schedule, and, despite duties attached to participation in the company, a passion for theatrical subjects keeps them moving forward.

In a city where most places attempt to accommodate people age 21 or older, the Rainbow Company, sponsored by the city of Las Vegas, strives to create a serious yet positive atmosphere filled with fun that will help students not only improve their talents but energize and excite them about theater.

"For a lot of kids, it becomes their second home," Bergen says. "It becomes like a family, and you make some of the best, best friends here."

Such dedication is being recognized this year as the company receives the Children's Theatre Foundation of America's Medallion Award.

In August, the Rainbow Company will hang the Medallion Award next to its other framed accolades. Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons presented the Governor's Arts Award to the company in 2007 for leadership in arts education

Other honors given to the Rainbow Company include Nickelodeon's Parents' Picks 2009 Award and the Park Association's first place Dorothy Mullen Arts & Humanities Award.

"It's a great place to be," McKenney says. "I'm passionate about the program, I'm passionate about theater, and I'm passionate about the students."

Open auditions are held for all of the five shows the company performs each year, providing an opportunity for all ages to participate in a professional theatrical production.

Those not interested in auditioning for the student ensemble have the chance to take six-week classes designed to provide them with an outlet for creativity and a foundation in various theatrical skills.

Classes vary in price from $36 to $70. For more information, call 229-6553.

Rainbow Company receives national award for youth theater

Students might not realize scope of the honor

The film world has its Oscars, television its Emmys. From Broadway's Tonys to music's Grammys, a variety of awards honor outstanding artistic achievements.

And now, Las Vegas' Rainbow Company youth theater has its own national accolade: the Medallion Award from the Children's Theatre Foundation of America, which has cited the long-running community troupe as a 2010 recipient of its highest honor.

The Medallion Award will be presented in August at a San Francisco convention, according to Karen McKenney, who's been Rainbow Company's artistic director since 1992.

"It's the pinnacle -- a really high, high honor," McKenney said of CTFA's Medallion Award. Previous winners include such legends as Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, TV favorites Shari Lewis and Fred Rogers, author Maurice Sendak and the New York State Theatre Institute.

According to Orlin Corey, chairman of the foundation's Medallion Committee, "Rainbow Company is being honored because its diverse and extensive education program of classes, annual workshops, outreach programs, touring and productions are without parallel."

When Rainbow staff members recently shared news of the Medallion with the student ensemble, "they were very excited and delighted," McKenney said. "But I'm not sure they realize the scope of it."

The Rainbow Company's Medallion Award honors the "whole program: outreach, education, our touring show, and mainstage" productions, McKenney said.

"It's also because of our longevity," she added. And because this is Rainbow Company's 33rd season, "any kid who's ever been in the company" shares in the award.

That's a lot of kids.

Every year, open auditions determine which students, ages 10 to 18, will join the 40-member troupe, which is part of the city of Las Vegas' leisure services department.

In addition to performing in various productions, the ensemble members work backstage, building costumes and sets and running sound and lighting.

Four full-time staff members and four part-time instructors supervise them and teach additional classes for adults and children. Rainbow Company now stages five shows annually on a budget of more than $40,000.

Although the budget has grown considerably, Rainbow Company's operating philosophy hasn't changed much since 1976, when Patricia Marchese, then manager of the city's cultural and community affairs division, asked UNLV graduate student Jody Johnston to teach a few drama classes at Reed Whipple Cultural Center.

The classes proved so popular that, after four months, Johnston (daughter of comedian Totie Fields) was asked to put on a show or two -- and Rainbow Company was born. ("Pippi Longstocking," the troupe's inaugural production, debuted at Reed Whipple Cultural Center, toured locally and an award-winning television version was taped at KLVX-TV, Channel 10.)

Rainbow Company's dedication to "age-appropriate casting" -- kids play kids, grown-ups play grown-ups -- "isn't that common even today," said founder Jody Johnston Davidson, who's now education director for Vermont's North Stage theater company.

"When I first began, people didn't believe children could produce quality performances," Davidson said in a telephone interview from her New England home. "That was the beginning of the ensemble" and the goal of training "kids at an incredibly high professional level."

A 1981 People magazine article also noted Rainbow Company's success as "the first theater in the U.S. to totally integrate handicapped and non-handicapped" students, Davidson said.

In addition, she said, Rainbow Company has "been able to premiere an amazing number of new works" -- many by Brian Kral, the troupe's second artistic director -- "that have greatly enhanced the body of children's dramatic literature in the U.S."

Rainbow Company has received numerous other awards, including a recent Governor's Arts Award, the Nickelodeon's Parents' Picks 2009 Award and the National Recreation and Park Association's first-place Dorothy Mullen Arts & Humanities Award.

Through the years, the troupe has enjoyed steadfast support from the city and the people of Las Vegas, Davidson said.

"It was the support of the community that always made Rainbow Company so strong," she said.

Such support seems especially vital now, when economic pressures threaten public funding for many arts programs.

"I want to remind people what a unique and special thing they have in Rainbow Company," and "what this has done for generations of Vegas kids," Davidson said. "It's one of the best in the U.S."

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.

Joseph Gets Flash In Las Vegas!

A special Joseph flash mob takes Las Vegas shoppers by surprise...

The Rainbow Company Youth Theatre, one of the longest-running cultural organisations in Las Vegas, is currently staging its own production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (until 13th December) - and the company came up with an amazing technicolor way to promote the show.

At 3pm Saturday, November 21, shoppers at the Fashion Show Mall, just off the Las Vegas Strip, were distracted from their purchases as a familiar track was played on the mall's sound system - and shortly after, a group of musical theatre actors gave them a surprise performance of the Joseph Megamix.

The Joseph flash mob was the idea of Rainbow Company alumni Callie Mower. The mob itself was made up of members of the Rainbow Company Youth Ensemble, alumni of the Company, the cast members, Rainbow Company staff, fans and volunteers, and was organised and choreographed by Head Choreographer Lauren Tuvell with students in the Ensemble and alumni.

Thanks to the Rainbow Company for spreading the Joseph word! Find out more by visiting the Rainbow Company website.

If you are interested in staging your own licensed production of Joseph, please visit the licensing section of this website to make an enquiry.

Rainbow Company Director Like A Theater Mom

Name: Karen McKenney, artistic director of Rainbow Company

Age: 55

Education: Bachelor’s in performance, University of Rhode Island; master’s in child drama, Arizona State University

Who she is: McKenney is the third artistic director of the Rainbow Company. She has taught acting at UNLV and College of Southern Nevada.

Rainbow Company: The award-winning youth theater company was formed in 1976. It offers professional training and drama classes and has an ensemble of 42 actors, ages 10 to 18, who are selected through auditions. It presents five productions annually, including an original touring play on Nevada history. Ensemble members learn each aspect of production — acting, costumes, set building, lights and sound. Not all students plan to pursue theater after high school.

“It’s not just about theater,” she says. “We teach them time management, responsibilities. I encourage education. I push them physically. They make good friends. Some have made lifelong friends. I’ve also had kids here where this is the only home they knew.”

Its audience: “We have people who have been Rainbow Company ticket holders for years. Former members bring their kids — a lot of families. It’s affordable so you can bring the family to a show. Having brought up four kids myself, it gets expensive. When you have high ticket prices, you make theater an exclusive art form.”

Being artistic director: “I’m passionate about the company, the kids and about the work we do — as is the staff, who have been here a long time. In some cases, we watch them go from elementary to high school. We grow attached to them. If we’re in production, the kids are with me Monday nights for meetings, Tuesday through Friday nights for rehearsal and Saturday afternoon for rehearsal.”

Getting started: McKenney dabbled in elementary school theater, then made her directorial debut at age 13 when she directed “Alice in Litter Land,” a one-act play about conservation for her mom’s garden club. High school performances included roles in “The MatchMaker” and “Cheaper by the Dozen,” but she wanted to be “realistic” about a career and chose to major in education.

Education: McKenney noticed that teaching degrees outnumbered teaching positions and was inspired to switch her major to theater in her sophomore year. “I decided that if I’m going to be unemployed, at least I’ll do what I really want to do.”

Rather than hitting the stage, she headed to Arizona for a master’s program. “My friends were all packing up and going to New York. I just wasn’t ready. I took stock. There were really talented people at school. I’m not bulletproof. I’m very sensitive. I couldn’t push myself through the rejections. Besides, I really loved kids. I loved teaching.”

Getting to Vegas: She was waiting tables after a temporary stint at the California Theatre Center when a friend in Las Vegas called to tell her about a costume-design position at a children’s company here. Was she interested? She worked her way through college in the costume shop and had some design experience.

“I thought, ‘Do I want to work in a theater or do I want to work at Bob’s Big Boy for the rest of my life?’ ”

She arrived here in 1980.

Interests: Camping with family, ghost towns, the Boston Red Sox and the gym. She works out every day. She has three sons and a daughter and is married to Thomas Dyer, exhibits manager at Nevada State Museum.

“During the season there isn’t a lot of down time. In the summer I try to feed my soul. I love museums, plays. I love to go to New York. I’ve dragged my kids to every ghost town within driving distance.”

Sticking around? “I don’t see myself going anywhere in the next 10 years. After retirement, it depends on where my kids are.”

McKenney directs her cast Thursday. "It's not just about theater," she says. "We teach them time management, responsibilities. I encourage education. I push them physically. They make good friends."