ABOVE: Children act out different animals during the Fairmont Opera House (FOH) grades K-2 Youth Theater Camp on Tuesday afternoon at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT — Whether audiences are looking to search for a bear, encounter various animals or witness underwater adventures, the children of the Fairmont Opera House (FOH) Youth Theater camp programs are ready to spread fun with three upcoming theater productions.

While the Fairmont Opera House facility is still out of commission while money is being raised for needed repairs, Grace Lutheran Church has allowed use of its space for these programs and performances.

“It’s a great group of kids,” Director Alyvia Anderson said. “They are ready to come and be excited. They’re good listeners. They’re really excited about the show.”

The Youth Theater Camp for ages 4 and 5 will perform, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,, following a family on a trek to find a bear. The Youth Theater Camp for grade kindergarten to grade 2 will perform, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” following a sequence of various, colorful animals, spotting the next animals in line. The Youth Theater Camp for grade 3 to grade 8 will perform, “The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition,” which follows characters SpongeBob Squarepants, Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks and other friends as they embark on an adventure to save their home of Bikini Bottom from an erupting volcano threatening to destroy it.

The grades K-2 Youth Theater Camp, which has 17 participants, began on Monday, June 8. Anderson reported that it’s going wonderfully, and the children are enjoying the camp and picking up valuable skills on stage.

The grades 3-8 Youth Theater Camp, which has over 60 participants, is slated to begin on Monday, June 15.

The ages 4-5 Youth Theater Camp, which has six participants and begins today, Wednesday, June 10, is a brand-new offering. Director Megan Potthoff said she’s happy to have it introduced because of her daughter, who wanted to be involved in theater, and expand the theater community in Fairmont.

“I think it’s really neat and unique that our community now offers theater for 4-year-olds all the way through adults in the summer. I think that’s such a neat thing,” Potthoff said. “I feel like theater has really taken off in this community. It’s always been big. But I feel like it’s just really taken off and expanded, and it’s available to more people. I think that has been really, really cool.”

Potthoff and Anderson have years of directing FOH Youth Theater Camp productions under their belts and are excited to work with the children once more to bring these three shows to the community.

“If the kids are excited, then we’re excited. I think our trust in each other has been super important, and it’s grown over the years as well,” Anderson remarked.

During the camps, through games and team bonding strategies, the children are developing skills in delivery, projection, pronunciation, enunciation, emotion-conveying, stage presence, blocking, representing a character, set building and more. Potthoff and Anderson emphasized the significance of children learning these skills, should the children advance to more theater groups and or use the skills they’ve learned outside of theater.

The directors also concurred that children’s theater is very important for the fine arts in Fairmont.

“It puts so much personality into a kid. I think just having theater within the community, it creates such a big frame for so many different things to happen. It puts so much creativity into a kid,” Anderson said.

In addition, Potthoff said that a big theme across the three camps and productions is “fun”.

“I hope the [audiences] see the fun that the kids are having and the excitement. I just hope people feed off that joy and that energy. Maybe it sparks something in them that they want to do something with theater, do something in the arts,” Potthoff said.

The directors shared that they have received generous amounts of support for FOH Youth Theater.

“Come see it. The work that the kids put in. They do so much work, and they work so hard and they are proud of themselves, and they deserve to be,” Anderson said.

The ages 4-5 Youth Theater will perform at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 12, at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairmont. The grades K-2 Youth Theater will follow on Friday, June 12, at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairmont. The grades 3-8 Youth Theater will perform at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 26, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, at the Fairmont High School Performing Arts.