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Curious Comedy Theater, a longtime provider of adult improv classes and workshops in town, is expanding its offerings to kids and families starting this fall.
The move comes during a complicated time in Portland’s children’s theater education, with Oregon Children’s Theatre and Arts for Learning Northwest both in perilous financial positions. Curious Comedy has decided to step up and fill the void, says Stacey Hallal, the organization’s artistic director. Curious Comedy has actually partnered with OCT for about a decade, hosting some of its classes in Curious’ theater on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Emerson and Sumner streets, so the transition felt natural.
“[OCT was] very encouraging and happy to see that the kids and families would have someplace to go while they’re working on their strategy,” Hallal says, though she hopes the new children’s programming will be a permanent addition to Curious’ offerings.
Oregon Children’s Theatre is set to pause all programming starting Sept. 1, including productions, camps and classes. The theater has raised over $300,000 toward its $1 million goal, according to its website.
The theater will launch its new Youth & Family Program under the leadership of Blake Wales, currently the education director at OCT. The program will start with 14 classes this fall, and 38 across the school year, with plans to serve more than 300 students ages 5-18. Classes will include Beginning Acting, Intro to Improv, Musical Theater, “Silly Shake Out” for little kids, and Saturday Night Live Sketches for tweens and teens.
