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6 • Exploring the Arts • News Graphic & Daily News • April 2, 2020 By Kendra Lamer klamer@conleynet.com 262-306-5095 WEST BEND — For 90 years, the West Bend Children's Theatre has been providing entertainment for Washington County's young audience members. WBCT performs shows each year produced for children. Each show contains a lesson and provides a connection to literacy. Producer Terri Kramer used to perform in the shows, but switched to producing for the past 35 years. The WBCT began in the 1930s to provide local, kid-friendly theatre performances in a time when schools would need to travel to Milwaukee to see a performance. Many of the schools could not aff ord to make the trip. The theatre started as a project of the West Bend Women's Club before women could work outside the home. With the exclusion of two years of construction at the high school, the organization has been able to present an annual children's show each year through 2019. This year's show had to be cancelled after Gov. Tony Evers banned all gatherings of more than 10 people in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic. Two of the three shows were sold-out by that time. "We since upped the game to make it as professional as we can for our limited budget that we have," said Kramer. "We are very fortunate to have the support of many local businesses that help sponsor the shows." The costs go towards paying for costumes and loyalty fees. Surplus money goes toward scholarships for West Bend West and West Bend East high school students. Seeing stories come to life at the West Bend Children's Theatre Photo courtesy of the West Bend Children's Theatre McKenna Garvey, left, and Nick Theisen pose as Alex the Lion and Marty the Zebra. The WBCT has produced a show for young audience members nearly every year since the 1930s. Photo courtesy of the West Bend Children's Theatre Cydney Bunk played Gloria the Hippo and Aiminee Hoff played Melman the Giraffe in last year's production of Madagascar. Story continued on page 7.

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