Local kids flying high into "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" musical shows

ELYRIA — It was clear that showtime was near on Thursday for the members of the Lorain County Children's Pioneer Theatre as the group held a dress rehearsal for the show that will conclude their summer camp. This weekend, the acting troupe composed of kids from Elyria and surrounding communities will give their rendition of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," a musical based on the 1968 film of the same name. "(The musical) follows the story of a man and his two children that just love this car," said Lillian Horner, who plays the show's female lead, Truly Scrumptious. "He's an inventor who fixes the car up and it just turns out to do all these spectacular things. It floats, it flies, you've just never seen a car like this before. It's really the highlight of what brings everybody together throughout the show." Shows will be at the Elyria High School Performing Arts Center today at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. On Thursday, the cast and crew were performing their dress rehearsal at the Performing Arts Center. The show is the conclusion of a four-week camp. Kids ranging in age from kindergarten to rising high school seniors have spent the past month learning to work together. The actual preparation for the musical began two weeks ago after initial workshops and auditions. Director Alex Craig said it is through the strength of his performers that the group got ready in time. "I thought it would be a more insurmountable task," Craig said. "But I think because of the dedication of the kids who want to put on a good show and want to be here and are just so in the moment and locked in, it's a lot easier." Craig, who lives in Lorain, participated in the Pioneer Theatre camp as a 12-year-old and came back in 2015 to make his directorial debut with the program. He has directed the final show for the past six years. He said seeing the growth in students who have been in the program throughout that time has been incredible. "The kids are getting more confident," Craig said. "The kids that I've seen since starting here have grown exponentially. They don't look the same as they did. That's a weird thing to say because of course they're gonna look different because they're growing up, but as a performer, they are growing (by) leaps and bounds every time I see them next." Horner served as an example of that growth, as her debut was the same show as Craig's in 2015, the musical "Twinderella." In that show Horner, now a rising senior at Keystone High School, played a talking gerbil. "I love it so much, I wouldn't spend my summer any other way," Horner said. "I feel like normal teens are probably hanging out with their friends or going to the pool, but I spend my summers here, and I really wouldn't have it any other way. It's the highlight of my year." Craig said seeing Horner evolve from that first silly role to be a leader in the program and the female lead in her final show summed up what the Pioneer Theatre can do for young actors. "The first show I directed her in, she was a talking magic gerbil, and now to see her really blossom last year as a junior on 'Frozen' and truly this year in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,' it's incredible," he said. Horner said being a member of the camp was an important part of her summers growing up, and that the final curtain call would be a bittersweet moment. "It's definitely very sentimental for me," "I truly, truly love Pioneer Theatre and it's going to be very sad, especially with my last days and my last shows being here. I'm not sure I will be able to continue theater in the future. I really hope so, but with college, I'm not 100 percent (sure)." Craig said it would be sad to see his current leaders go, but that the Children's Pioneer Theatre had a way of raising up the next group of actors to meet the challenge of the next summer's show. "These kids work hard," he said. "Some of them I started off with and they were so shy and timid are now leading the rest of the cast. They're — for lack of a better term — locker room leaders, taking on more responsibilities, helping out, they're being excellent examples and they're absolutely just knocking it out of the park." Tickets for the Lorain County Children's Pioneer Theatre will be sold at the door at the Elyria High School Performing Arts Center and cost $10 for adults and $7 for children and seniors. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.