For a concert photographer accustomed to late nights and loud music, covering two guys playing classical music for a bunch of school kids is not exactly where I expect to find myself at 10:45 on a Tuesday morning. But there I was; standing in my regular spot inside portal one at Ruth Eckerd Hall, watching busloads of kids pour into their seats. As the room reached near capacity, I began to think that maybe there was something more to this than I realized.
According to Sharon Reid-Kane, Assistant Director of Education for The Marcia P. Hoffman Performing Arts Institute at Ruth Eckerd Hall, the SchoolTime Series is an aspect of the hall designed with kids in mind. “What’s so great about the SchoolTime Series is, we’re bringing in kids from all over the county. There are some children who’ve been to shows and it’s not a new experience to them but, for some, it is. It’s the first time they’ve stepped into a theater and it’s not always necessarily the show they come to see, but the whole experience.”
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2009.