For young thespians, Bravo continues as 'safe place to grow'
Two moms created nonprofit five years ago
Written by
Vicki Stout
FOR WILLIAMSON A.M. - THE TENNESSEAN - photos by JEANNE REASONOVER
GRASSLAND COMMUNITY — Five years, 19 productions, 38 separate casts, 86 performances, 270 crew members, 1,459 cast members, 18,000 theater goers and countless parent volunteers later, Bravo Creative Arts Center continues its original mission of providing creative children an outlet for expression.
Bravo stages multiple musical productions each year, each with different casts, costumes, music and story lines.
The center also offers musical instruction and performance programs.
Lori Terlikosky and Lissa McHugh, Fieldstone Farms residents who met through their children's theater activities, put Bravo on the map Feb. 17, 2006, and they not only haven't looked back, they've picked up speed.
Terlikosky, a native of Long Island, N.Y., grew up loving theater.
"Our class trips were to see Broadway shows. I loved it, but I was a shy kid and never had the opportunity Bravo gives shy kids to not only perform but explore all aspects of theater," she said. "We have kids who come to Bravo terribly shy and three or four years later, they're in lead roles. This is a safe place to grow."
Daughters were on stage
This pair of founding moms met during their teenage daughters' theater involvements. Terlikosky's daughter today is an actress in Nashville and McHugh's does choreography for Bravo.
McHugh said their original concept was to find directors to work with children and teens at Bravo, to oversee and underwrite the productions.
"We soon found out there weren't too many directors around that would be willing to work with lots of children and teens for very little money, so we decided to go ahead with a musical theater program and figure it out as we went along. The paperwork to establish a nonprofit may have been the most difficult hurdle we faced," she said.
After moving into the old Grassland Hardware location, the stalwart moms-turned-producers decided their first production would be Peter Pan.
"We had 39 kids come to audition. All were placed in the show," McHugh said. "We had a stage. We had parent volunteers who threw their talents into the pot, and in August, 2006, the Peter Pan cast gave three performances to great crowds. The musical theater program was launched, we sighed with relief and the kids asked 'What's next?' "
Just as no child who auditioned for that first production was turned away, no child today who auditions is ever cut.
"We have never cut a child," Terlikosky said. "Nor have we ever said 'no' to a child for financial reasons. We provided over $16,000 in scholarships last year, thanks to generous donations from foundations and individuals."
Fees, ticket sales fund group
Parents pay a $225 fee for each child who participates in Bravo productions. The money helps underwrite the costs of productions. McHugh says each production has hard costs of $20,000 or more.
In addition to participation fees, the two producers say ticket sales to the shows help keep the doors to Bravo open. Show tickets are $8 to $10, plus there's a concession stand that helps build revenues.
In the early days, productions were staged at The Journey at Eclessia, a church in The Factory at Franklin, but the casts quickly outgrew that stage. Today productions are staged in the theater at Father Ryan.
Bravo works with kids ages 7-18. While the first production drew 39 to audition, mostly from the Grassland area, the head count of those auditioning the next summer swelled to 150. Today Bravo serves kids from Nashville, Spring Hill, Franklin and Thompson's Station.
"We have kids from public schools, private and home-schooled. Our area of reach has become broader and broader," McHugh said.
Since that first production of Peter Pan, Bravo has produced You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Annie, Grease, Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, 101 Dalmatians, High School Musical, Alice in Wonderland, Godspell and more.
The upcoming 20th production, Honk! Jr., will feature two separate casts.
Kids learn variety of production skills
Terlikosky says different shows serve different age ranges. Not all kids want to be on stage. Some take an interest in sound or lighting or stage building.
"We offer all aspects of theater; it's a great learning experience. We think some of our kids will go on to pursue theater, but our main goal is to give them the confidence to do well in life, whatever their scope of interest or career choice. We're a safe place to be, a nurturing place, we offer these kids the opportunity to build self-confidence that will serve them well in their future," she said.
And, according to one current cast member, the kids have loads of fun staging the production.
Brad Swords, an 11-year-old student at Franklin Classical School, is the lead in the current production. He plays the ugly duckling.
"This will be my third production," Sword says. "They're really fun. I hope to be on Broadway someday. I know that's a big expectation. Being in a production is a lot of hard work, but they make it so very, very fun."
The Spring Hill resident said he discovered theater as a young child.
"I went to Brentwood Baptist and they had a production. I tried out and fell in love with it. A friend told me about Bravo, so I came here and I just love it," he said.
The sixth-grader comes straight to Bravo from school. Like the rest of the cast, he rehearses until 7 p.m. or so, when he goes home for dinner and homework. His 9-year-old sister, Bailey, is also in Honk! Jr.
"My little brother, Bryant, who's 4, appears to be taking an interest in acting, too," he said.
The cast and crew are not the only ones spending many hours at Bravo. Terlikosky and McHugh say they spend between 40 and 80 hours weekly planning and organizing for productions, rehearsing the children, costuming, managing the website, doing paperwork and cleaning.
"We are also the janitors," McHugh joked.
"Our dream of having an artistic home for the community children and teens came true, and the rewards have been immeasurable. We watch the children discover their talents, whether that's singing, dancing, acting, performing or working behind the scenes building sets, working lights, helping to teach, selling concessions, or working sound," McHugh said. "And we watch them grow in confidence and self-esteem. We hope that the creative home known as Bravo has been instrumental in helping youth to find their voice."