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ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. — There is a strong connection between musical theater and this relatively isolated community in southern Wyoming. And talented young people who are members of the Church have discovered it.
Rock Springs is the home of Western Wyoming Community College, one of only three post-high school institutions in the Intermountain West with a long-established musical theater program. The others are Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, and BYU.
Only about 180 miles west of Rock Springs, Utah's Wasatch Front (generally from Ogden to Provo) is the most accessible metropolitan area to the school and, therefore, is a recruiting hot bed. Add to that, according to WWCC's theater director Jamie Young, the fact that developing in children talents such as dance and music is important to many families in the Church, and it's no surprise that a great number of the high school graduates who are lured to the school are LDS.
So when the spring musical, "Just So," opened in the WWCC theater on Feb. 26, the majority of the cast and crew were members of the Church. While most are from Utah's Wasatch Front, other theater students this year are from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Several students who spoke to the Church News said there is no distinction between Church members and others. They build strong, positive relationships based upon their love for musical theater. Their strongest bond is their talent.
But for the LDS performers, the school provides a safe environment. Part of that is provided by Jamie Brigham Young, whose middle name comes from his third-great grandfather. He doesn't promote the Church, or himself as a member of the Church, when he visits high schools to tell potential WWCC students about his program. But the recruits usually figure it out, his current crop said, and that is a positive enticement in a field where principles are often compromised. He has a reputation of running a quality program while reinforcing positive values espoused by good youth.
"Just So" is a good example of the type of show the school produces. It is a happy play based on the children's "Just So Stories" by Rudyard Kipling. It is presented on a colorful stage set by enthusiastic, energetic actors. They sing and dance and act as they tell the story of how various animals got their characteristics, such as zebra stripes, leopard spots and elephant trunk.
The students have to put in about 150 hours of rehearsal time per person, Brother Young said.
But again, under Brother Young, the students aren't asked to compromise their principles. And, as many pointed out, they no longer have to rehearse on Sundays as was sometimes the case before the current director arrived three years ago.
Also helping with the safe environment is a small but growing institute and the Rock Springs College Branch of the Rock Springs Wyoming Stake. Brother Young said that when parents find out about the nature of the musical theater program and that there is a strong Church presence on campus, they feel good about letting their children attend WWCC.
Student -actor Katie Grant said, "The branch here is amazing. Everyone here wants to be here."
Joni Green, another student and actor who attended Hunter High School in West Valley City, Utah, with Katie, said that the Spirit in branch sacrament meetings is as strong as any she has experienced.
The institute is blessed by the talented members who attend WWCC, according to director Steven B. Packer. Of the approximately 120 students enrolled this year, he said, the majority come from the musical theater department and from the school's athletic programs that also recruit heavily on the Wasatch Front.
Institute enrollment has increased each of the three years he has been the director, Brother Packer said.
For the musical theater students — they are getting quality training in keeping with their principles.
"I am grateful to work in a place with students who have these values," Brother Young said.
He said some theater instructors believe that to learn, students must experience the bad as well as the good. Brother Young disagrees. "They can learn their art form by doing wholesome material," he insisted.
Since it is hard to make it as a big-time Broadway or Hollywood actor, Brother Young also shares alternatives with his students. They include such things as acting in regional or local productions, writing, producing and directing, and working on the technical side.
Joni wants to open her own theater. Katie wants to start a children's theater with her sister who preceded here at WWCC. But some, like Nate Broberg, a graduate of Utah's Timpanogos High School, still dream of making it in Hollywood or on Broadway.
