Akron Life July 2023

BARBE R T ON

by Alexandra Sobczak and photos provided by Magical Theatre Company

First Class Stage Magical Theatre Company brings children’s stories to life.

for young audiences the way we would approach theater for adults — professional, high-quality material.” The co-owners bought the now-279-seat theater — which was built in 1919 as a silent movie theater and later became the Akron Children’s Theatre — in 1992, determined to keep it a place for children’s theater. “We fell in love with the mission,” O’Connell says, “to be able to serve kids, to nurture their minds, their imaginations and their hearts.” “It is such a privilege to be the first live theater experience that a child has, and that happens to us a lot,” Barkdoll says.

Most of the plays that O’Connell and Barkdoll direct, which are comprised of a company of professional actors and crew members, as well as child actors, are aimed at youth in preschool through high school. Districts from Massillon to Cleveland to Sugarcreek bring students out for field trips, and the theater also puts on weekend shows for families. It’s particularly impactful when kids see someone like them perform. “The audience of kids identifies wholeheartedly with what they’re seeing onstage,” O’Connell says. The company also brings magic to schools,

When Dennis O’Connell and Holly Barkdoll were leading the renovation of the Magical Theatre Company building in Barberton in 2015, some people expected molded plastic chairs and bright primary colors for the children’s theater, not suave teal movie theater-style seating and elegant lighting. “We didn’t want it to look like a fast food playland. We wanted it to be a special, pretty, classy place for kids to experience theater,” Barkdoll says. “We wanted to make sure that we approached theater

setting up plays in schools’ gyms and auditoriums. In all, it serves 23 Ohio

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akronlife.com | JULY 2023