Image by ML Baxley

Nicole Capri serves as a mentor and coach for The Rep’s young artists, including those shown here: (clockwise, left to right): Joe McCurdy, Maddie Lentz, Drew Clark, Ella Moody, Abby Shourd, Marina Redlich and Price Clark (on bench).

Click here to read this story in the digital edition of the December issue of Little Rock Family.

If you ever meet Nicole Capri, resident director and director of education at the Arkansas RepertoryTheatre, no doubt you’ll be met with a firm handshake. She’s sort of an expert on those.

In fact, a good handshake is one of the many things she teaches youth ages 10-23 during The Rep’s Summer Musical Theater Intensive (SMTI), and one example of how her work with young artists, as she calls them, goes beyond stage training to real-world, life training. 
Capri considers herself more than a director (she’s directed and choreographed more than 100 productions) and founder of SMTI, but also a drama coach, talent manager and career counselor to her young artists. In short, she’s the ultimate stage mom. 

Shining Child Stars
But she’s a serious theater teacher, too. After all, that’s why more than 500 of the state’s up-and-coming actors audition for Capri in hopes of snagging one of about 100 coveted SMTI spots each year. The Intensive is designed exclusively for youth and young adults interested in a future in the arts and musical theatre. 
“The program was created because we wanted to grow up a crop of Arkansas actors that could hold their own with Broadway actors,” Capri said. “The Intensive is structured like a true professional summer stock experience.”
The young artists get dance and vocal coaching, learn musical theatre techniques and are trained in costume and stage make-up. "We want to produce healthy, working young artists. We want them to really know what it’s like in the theater world—good or bad,” she said. “I do not sugarcoat this business for them.”
For this reason, she brings in professional directors, choreographers, musicians and designers to work with the young artists during the Intensive. And their rigorous daily rehearsals culminate in a public workshop performance 
of a selected musical or revue on The Rep’s Main Stage. 
After “graduating,” many of the SMTI alumni return to perform in Rep productions. For instance, seven alumni will perform in this year’s Christmas show: “A Christmas Carol, The Musical” including Abby Shourd, 12, who will play the role of Martha Cratchit.
“I am excited to work with the cast and try new things that I have never done before,” Shourd said.

The Right Direction
Capri is clearly taking her program -- and the young artists she works with -- in the right direction, as she recently was awarded the 2011 Arkansas Arts Council Arts in Education Governor’s Award. This annual award recognizes Arkansans for their outstanding contributions to the arts community.
“I’m honored to be recognized for something I’ve dedicated my life to,” Capri said. “I’m very passionate about kids, directing and the arts, but mostly kids.”
Her love for her students is apparent in her dedication to making SMTI fun, in spite of its demands (like building the physical and mental stamina to perform the run of a professional show). 
“I want them to have fun. Theatre is work, theater is sweat—but, it wasn’t until I was 34 years old, and I started this program, that I actually knew what it was like to be a kid.”
“Ms. Nicole taught me that preparing is extremely important, that acting is lots of hard work, but that it is also really fun,” said Ella Moody, 10, who finished her first SMTI session this past summer and will play the roles of Fan and Want in the Christmas show.
“She is very good at motivating me to push myself.  She is very nice and supportive, and I like being around her.”
Her co-stars agree. “I loved making new friends and learning the skills of putting on a show,” Shourd said. “[Ms. Nicole] is an amazing person and director. I love learning new things every day and getting prepared for professional life.” 
Marina Redlich, 12, said, “Studying under the direction of Ms. Nicole was awesome because I love her and she challenges us…She has high expectations for us.” Redlich will play the role of Grace in the Christmas show.

Home Sweet Stage
Capri’s young artists love her because she truly has made herself a refuge for them in the business. She said some have come to her home in the middle of the night and she’s taken them in. She's also called them back to audition for a role at The Rep that she believed they’d be great for (even when 900 applications were already on her desk). She loves them that much. 
“I want The Rep, Little Rock, me, this program to feel like a home base for them so they can make bold choices,” she said. “I think bold choices translate into a better chance of success in this industry—a better chance to make it—and you need to know there is someone there to catch you.”