The Cast of Madagascar Jr. performs at Blennerhassett Middle School. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — Guild Builders, the Actors Guild of Parkersburg’s youth theater program, is gearing up for a busy spring, the program chairman said.

“We just wrapped up Madagascar Jr. at Blennerhassett Middle School and we have two more productions to go before summer,” Chairman Brent Null said.

Registration opens 10 a.m. Feb. 15 for the annual Guild Builders Spring Workshop for students in grades 4 to 9. The 10-week program will culminate in a three-show production in mid-May.

Workshops will be held 9-noon every Saturday and will focus on music, dance and acting. The material will be original and will allow the kids who are participating to have equally sized roles in the production.

“Our first workshop of this kind was last fall and it was a complete sell-out. We take kids with varying degrees of skill and ability and, based on how the production is structured, we give everyone an equal opportunity to shine,” Null said. “There are no ‘lead’ roles and there are no ‘supporting’ roles. Everyone is a lead.”

Ellie Yeater and Gavin Honse as Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd in the teen program production of “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at West Virginia University at Parkersburg. (Photo Provided)

The fee-based workshop is different from the free large-scale Guild Builders productions. The core focus of the workshop is more on the disciplines of theater and less on the large budget items like sets and costumes, Null said.

The workshop will be limited to 30 students. Cost is $100 per student with a $25 discount for siblings.

Scholarships are available for up to five students and are based on need. Registration will be accepted beginning 10 a.m. Feb. 15 at the Guild Builders website, www.actors-guild.com/guild-builders.html.

Regular Guild Builders productions will not change, Null said. It will continue to be offered for free and will remain audition-based.

“The Wizard of Oz” will be the 2020-2021 production. Information will be made available when the production dates are finalized.

The Fall Workshop Program performs for RISE UP at WVU-Parkersburg. (Photo Provided)

The teen program has seen tremendous growth since it began in the fall of 2017, Null said. Since that time, it has performed “Spoon River Anthology,” “Glimpses,” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” and most recently the “High School Edition of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

“Sweeney Todd was the biggest show we’ve done to date and it was incredibly successful,” Null said. “We doubled our projected income budget. We were completely overwhelmed by the positive response to the show.”

The program’s next production will be “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder, presented in celebration of the Parkersburg Bicentennial on June 18 and 19 at Bicentennial Park.

Any teen in the Mid-Ohio Valley between the 9th and 12th grades is eligible to participate. Auditions will be held 2 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Actors Guild Annex, 716 Market St., adjacent to the Actors Guild theater.

For more information about Guild Builders, email guildbuilders@actors-guild.com or visit their website.