Seventeen-year-old Logan Whittier has acted in about 30 plays, mostly at Timpanogos Valley Theatre in Heber City — a small miracle, given how much he hated his first play nine years ago.

“It was this really awful production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in North Carolina,” he said. “They took out all the music. They just did it as a straight play. I played one of the flowers. I hated it so much. I was like, ‘Mom, I’m never doing theater again.’”

But as soon as Whittier realized how entrancing a well-made production could be, he was auditioning for any role he could. He had that realization while watching Jeremy Jordan’s performance of lead Jack Kelly in the 2017 Broadway production of “Newsies.”

Whittier will be donning that newsboy’s role in Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s production of “Newsies Jr.” next weekend. The Disney play depicts the 1899 newspaper hawkers’ labor strike in New York City, which occurred after newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Heart raised distribution prices.

Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s production features about 60 actors aged 12 to 18 who will be performing after a nine-day theater “boot camp.” 

The hardest part of wrangling the kids has not been teaching them tap dancing — they picked that up within two days — but having patience with them when they’re goofing off, music and choreography director Will Andrus joked.

But more often, the kids come prepared and eager to learn. All but one of the actors have theater backgrounds, and even that one new actor, 13-year-old Andrew Severson, has a background in choir and dance and no jitters over being onstage.

Unlike Severson, some of the kids in Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s youth boot camps are on the shy side, explained marketing manager Bettina Giese. She teaches fifth grade at Soldier Hollow Charter School and is constantly recommending that parents enlist their children in the theater.

“They’re like, ‘I don’t know that he’ll be brave enough.’ I say, ‘That’s the whole point. They’re shy in school, but when you get a part in a play, they tell you what to say. They tell you where to stand,’” she said.

Whittier added that theater did wonders for his self-confidence and social skills while he was in middle school.

“I would go on stage, and they’re like, ‘Pretend you have so much confidence in what you’re saying.’ So, I just transferred that into my own life. I would be talking to somebody. I’m like, ‘I have no idea what I’m talking about. I have no confidence in myself, but I can pretend I do,’” he said.

Director Roy Buttermore, 20, has been participating in theater since childhood. Literally walking in another person’s shoes as an actor has made him a more empathetic person. He hopes that he can instill that quality in the actors he’s currently mentoring — especially since many of them are the same age as the newsies who went on strike 127 years ago.

“Some of them are just so tiny. I’ll look at them and be like, ‘Gosh, I can’t imagine you having to go through this. But, you know, there was someone who was a lot like you that did, and had the strength and determination to undergo fighting against these people of amazing influence and power,’” Buttermore said.

The director hopes the play inspires its young cast and crew to have the same fervor as the real-life newsies did and to adopt other qualities of their characters in their day-to-day lives.

For example, Leina Magalie, 18, hopes to gain the self-startedness of her character, journalist Katherine Plumber, as she enters the adult world.

Sarah Ray, director of Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s youth programs, said the best part of her job is seeing kids come of age.

“Most of these humans who I love have actually grown up doing shows in the program,” she said, referring to the young adult crew. “It’s fun to watch the kids grow from being tiny little things, basically standing on the stage and waving at their parents, to being able to carry a whole show.”

While the “Newsies Jr.” cast is young, and rehearsals happen in a very short window, Ray assures prospective audience members that the show is well worth the ticket. The kids doing flips and cartwheels during musical numbers will justify the price of admission.

But the biggest reason to see “Newsies Jr.” is to support a program that empowers kids during awkward adolescence. 

“It’s such a positive, accepting environment here. We don’t put up with any kind of bullying or cliques or anything,” Ray said. “For kids that have felt like, ‘I don’t really have somewhere to belong,’ this has kind of become their home.”

Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s “Newsies Jr.” runs Friday, July 31 and Saturday, Aug. 1. Learn more and buy tickets at timpvalleytheatre.com.

The post ‘Newsies Jr.’ teaches Heber Valley’s youth to seize the day appeared first on Park Record.

Heber City musician Luke Despain began writing songs on the piano at 12 years old, so when he was introduced to editing software Music MasterWorks in his music class a few years later, he was ahead of the curve.

“When all the other kids were just randomly putting notes on the score, I was 10 minutes into a song that I was making,” he recalled. “It was like LEGOs for music. I’d never played around with a software like that before.”

If a Digital Audio Workstation is like a pile of LEGOs, Despain is now a master builder. He’s composed and produced albums, singles, soundtracks and commercials for clients ranging from indie filmmakers to multi-million dollar companies. He’ll be kicking off Heber City’s summer concert series at Main Street Park at 7 p.m. on Saturday with a selection of his solo work.

Despain never imagined he’d be making music full-time when he was 15, uploading a composition called “African Drums” to YouTube — which, to his surprise, garnered over a million views. 

He now realizes that, other than his choice of drums, the song sounds nothing like the music of any of the continent’s 54 countries. 

Coincidentally, Despain ended up serving a mission in Sierra Leone for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He met his wife, Hazel, at his missionary homecoming. 

The pair only dated for a few months before tying the knot. They were, as Despain put it, a “very typical Mormon couple.” Despite that, the couple spent much of their 20s soul searching and ultimately left the church.

That spiritual journey serves as the inspiration for much of Despain’s solo work, such as his instrumental piano album, “Dichotomies.” 

“I grew up … thinking that there is good and bad, and right and wrong, and evil and holy,” he said. “(Now, I’m) accepting it all. It’s all what it is. It’s all God. It’s all experience. It’s all consciousness. And sometimes labeling things certain ways comes with less acceptance and less presence and less living.”

Despain hopes his music prompts existential thinking but is presented in a whimsical way, reflecting how his own existential journey gave him a greater appreciation for all aspects of his life — including his upbringing.

“A lot of the values we grew up with, like treating others the way you want to be treated and being present and the importance of family and community, those things are really cool,” he said. “That’s what we love about the community in Utah.”

Being close to family was part of why Despain and Hazel chose to start their family in their hometown of Heber City instead of Austin, Texas, where they previously lived. 

It was in Austin where Despain began composing and producing music for clients. 

At first, he was mixing albums for friends for a few hundred dollars per job. Eventually, he began taking on more ambitious projects, like the soundtrack for indie Western film LeGrand, starring Ethan Wayne — son of John Wayne — as the titular character’s father. For Despain, who had never seen a Western before working on the project, it was a valuable learning experience. 

He also began producing music for corporate ads, like a TaylorMade Golf Company ad, released last year, that remixes the swings of a Qi35 driver into a 30-second track.

Some musicians would feel stifled creating music for a company, but Despain enjoys it.

“I actually find it really helpful to give me some boundaries because if it’s just like, ‘Make an amazing song,’ where do I start?” he said.

Despain also finds it heartening when companies choose to hire an artist like himself instead of relying on AI. After all, the entirety of his income comes from making music.

Despain’s dream is to open a hybrid coffee shop recording studio in Heber City. He thinks the demand exists — he said the music scene has grown exponentially since when he was a kid.

Despain has worked with a few local musicians in the two years he’s been here — most recently, producing folk musician Canyon Cottle’s debut album — and is hopeful that the music scene of his hometown will continue to grow. 

“(Music) can bring in anybody and make anyone feel a certain way,” he said. “I think that’s what I like about it the most, is the fluidness and how easy it is to express feelings and connect with people.”

The post Heber City producer Luke Despain kicks off Saturday Sunset concerts at Main Street Park appeared first on Park Record.

The American Festival Chorus, directed by Dean of the Caine Department of Music at Utah State University Craig Jessop, performed a holiday show at the DeJoria Center in Kamas Monday evening, Dec. 5, 2016. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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