Moving to a larger space, Raue expands School for the Arts programming

Aiming to give more children room to create, Raue Center’s School for the Arts has found a new home in Crystal Lake.

With a move to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and an expansion of the School for the Arts, the nonprofit Raue looks to offer year-round programs, classes, workshops, concerts and camps.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Richard Kuranda, Raue Center executive director. “Just the stars aligned and the wonderful people over at St. Mary’s have just embraced us.”

The Raue’s School for the Arts moved into an educational wing and hall at the church, 210 McHenry Ave., to offer group and private classes and lessons in a variety of voice, music and theater disciplines for students ages 5 to 18.

Among the school’s many upcoming programs is a two-week intensive High School Musical Theatre Workshop for ages 15 to 18 taught by the Raue’s Amanda Flahive, a performing arts summer camp called Camp RCSA and the production workshop RCSA presents…On Stage!

In May, students ages 12 and older will take part in the theater workshop, “Prince Shayna’s Invisible Visible Gift,” based on the best-selling book by Sheila Glazov. With music and lyrics by the Raue’s Billy Seger and Evan Swanson, students will adapt the book into a musical theater piece.

“We want to get these kids out,” Kuranda said. “We just really want to make sure they have an opportunity to come out and celebrate life and enjoy and not worry about wars and the horrible stuff they see on TV and COVID.”

The move and expansion grew out of an Arts on the Green series of outdoor programming offered last summer by the Raue on St. Mary’s campus. The series featured performances, live music and a bit of Shakespeare.

It offered a way for the Raue to bring theater to the community amid the pandemic.

Because of the success of the series, the Raue and St. Mary’s looked for new ways to partner.

“Over the last several years during the pandemic, we asked ourselves as a church, ‘What does it mean to be in community?’” said Deacon Michael Choquette of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.

“We thought we have all of this space, an educational wing, a hall that doesn’t get used very often. What happens if we offer this space to the nonprofits in McHenry County and see what they could use of it? One of the first to come back to us was Richard [Kuranda].”

Remaining secular, the Raue in January officially began moving into a wing of the church once used for a nursery school, as well as the church’s hall and an office space, as part of a partnership with the church.

Similar to how camps and programs give students interested in sports an outlet to learn and grow, the School for the Arts offers a creative path for students interested in the arts, those involved said.

Tessa Burke of Crystal Lake has enrolled both of her children, 11-year-old Liam and 9-year-old Emelia, also a competitive athlete, in the school. Liam has taken acting classes and participated in theater programs, while Emelia takes voice lessons.

“It’s honestly an important part of our lives, to everyone in different ways,” Burke said. “It is a part of our lives year-round, and it’s a place for both of them to grown and independently experience their areas of interest. They’re two different kids with different interests, but they each found their own home there.”

Burke said she’s impressed with the professional level of the programs, taught by working Chicago area professional actors, directors and designers, as well as the variety of experiences offered.

Camp RCSA students will learn acting, choreography, dance and vocal techniques, as well as theater-themed crafts. They’ll then perform on what has become the Raue’s outdoor performance space, Arts On The Green, at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.

In the RCSA…On Stage! program, students not only can hone their musical theater skills, they also can learn behind the scenes of what it takes to produce a MainStage Raue Center show.

They then put those skills into practice for an audience. The Summer 2022 RCSA presents…On Stage! students ages 7 to 11 will produce “Seussical Kids,” while the students ages 12 and older will produce “Seussical Jr. the Musical.”

Students gain confidence and teamwork skills as they work together both on stage and off, Kuranda said.

“The self-confidence that I’ve seen grow in both of my children is really incredible to me, and I directly attribute that to having the opportunity to get on stage, perform and memorize lines and perform solo songs,” Burke said. “It’s really helped to make them confident not just on stage, but off stage.”

The hope is to serve about 300 students in the camps this summer, Kuranda said, with a lineup of classes and productions for fall and winter to follow.

“We’re just starting to ramp back up,” he said.