Junior Broadway comes to Grande Prairie

Hamilton Spectator

15-05-2025

Grande Prairie's latest theatre group is helping create the next generation of local thespians.
Grande Prairie Children's Theatre (GPCT) has become a hit on and off the stage as it continues to expand after only a couple of years in the community.
'I've always wanted to do the children's theatre,' said Nikki Fournier, GPCT founder and director.
She founded the company in July 2023 with 32 students: It has grown to more than 140.
'Growing up, there was nothing like this for me, and I was a big musical theatre fan,' she said.
She noted other theatre groups in the community are more geared toward adults and teenagers with limited roles for children. The days of school productions are limited today.
GPCT had its first production last year with The Little Mermaid Jr., which sold out in five days.
This year, the theatre is in the final stages of preparation for its second production, Frozen Jr., which will debut May 23 at the Douglas J. Cardinal Theatre at Northwestern Polytechnic.
'Our mission statement is to bring quality musical theatre education to the youth and children in our community,' said Fournier. 'All of my teachers are professionals in their scopes of things, so the students are getting quality education in music, acting and dancing, and I think that's really important, and I think that contributes to the quality of our productions at the end of the year.'
Fournier herself has even received some training in New York for Broadway teaching.
The students hitting the stage next week are between eight and 18, but the junior title does not take away from the show's spectacle, says Fournier.
'We try to use a lot of things that were in the actual Broadway version of Frozen, so our Sven is basically the size of a miniature pony, and he's a puppet played by one of our students.
'Olaf is also a larger puppet played by a student so we've added puppeteering into our classes, and then we also have students who help make props and things and some costume design stuff.'
This year's production includes over 100 costumes for Frozen Jr., which took a team of volunteers to create.
'The vast majority of our costumes this year were handmade,' said Fournier, noting that anything bought off the rack is then custom-tailored to the actor.
She said it takes about nine months for everything to come together, from learning lines, songs, choreography, and the changes made due to props or costuming. The whole time, the children put in a ton of effort.
Fournier says the students meet twice a week, with the odd long Sunday.
'The point of the program isn't the show,' she said.
'The point of the program is what you learn in class and how you incorporate that into your character for the show.'
She said the snow chorus is an ensemble representing the protagonist's, Elsa, powers as they grow.
'Their costumes morph, their choreography morphs into bigger stuff as the show progresses, and they're a super integral part of the show.
'They don't say lines, but they're super important, so it's teaching kids that no matter what role you get, you don't have to be Elsa or Anna to be valuable in a production.'
Fournier started doing musical theatre summer camps where children would learn an entire musical in 10 days and then perform it. The pandemic shut down those projects.
She still had the dream of one day making it a year-round program.
Last year, she was able to begin again with 32 students out of the Forbes Presbyterian Church, but they quickly outgrew the space.
By fall, they had moved into their downtown location with about 4,000 square feet already beginning to fill up with set pieces, costumes, and a sound recording booth as the theatre expands its classes.
GPCT offers programming for children of any age under 18; it has a Broadway Babies program for ages 0 to four which 'introduces babies and toddlers to the world of musical movement.
The Kinder Broadway program is aimed at students aged five to eight, while other programs -such as Intro to Animation - include teaching voice acting for video games or animation.
'We're hoping to get into some costume design classes eventually.'
The theatre involves the other classes in its big production, with the Kinder Broadway students performing during the intermission of Frozen Jr.
Additionally, GPTC does a Christmas production where all the students get to perform.
'We would love to keep up the full-year program and do one big show every year, potentially two in the future,' said Fournier.
She says the GPCT's success comes from the need for such a program in the community. 'The amount of students interested and wanting to join the program made it all possible.'
She said the talent of the students is incredible.
'Some of them have never sung in their lives, and they are absolutely incredible and so eager and willing to learn.'
Registration is already filling up as another big year is anticipated.
Its Stage Stars program for its big production will include two groups preparing for a large show.
'They will all perform the same production, but it will be two different shows.'
Registration and more information is available at
gpchildrenstheatre.com
.
Frozen Jr. tickets are available through Bonnetts Energy Centre.