The Theater Factory Company

Studio Location: 631 1^st Street, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401

Phone 681-1805

Email address: cpeterson@theaterfactory.org

Our mission is to create an environment where children can experience classic quality theater in a wholesome, age appropriate setting.

What is the mission of The Theater Factory Co. acting school?

Let us explain four key words in our mission statement.

Children: Karl and Chris both enjoy children very much; they have eight of our own. They take children’s talents and abilities seriously.

Quality: The Theater Factory is a learning environment that instills high quality work as one of the basic components of its curricula. The students will be taught about quality work and be held to that standard as part of their learning experience.

Wholesome: The world is filled with enough off-color material in books, the media, movies and theater. You will not find any of that at The Theater Factory. This acting school is a safe haven for wholesome behavior and materials for your children.

Age-Appropriate: The Theater Factory’s curricula focuses on the magical wonder of childhood, some of which include fairy tales, clean musicals, melodramas, and Shakespeare that has been adapted for children. Your child should have a magical experience at this school.

Where is The Theater Factory Studio located?

We are located at 631 1^st Street in Idaho Falls. We are right across the street from BOWL-ERO bowling alley. Our studio is centrally located and large enough to service the needs of our students very well.

What kind of plays will my child be involved in?
We will rehearse and perform a wide variety of plays including fables and fairly tales. We will also perform musicals, Shakespeare, melodramas and contemporary plays. We also offer introduction to the theater classes, which are non performance classes where the young actors learn about a wide variety of theater skills, concepts, and theater styles.

What can I expect my child to learn at The Theater Factory?

Being involved in a theater production lends itself to many learning experiences, some of which include: learning to work in a group setting, learning to take direction, learning the power of paying attention, being quiet when it is not your turn, keeping your commitment to do your part, taking care of other people’s property, being on time, gaining confidence to speak in front of other people, and helping others to do their parts. There are also practical lessons to be gained when a person gets involved in a play such as, learning to project your voice, staying in character, learning how to apply make-up, learning history about different periods of time through costume and set design, learning to memorize and read a script, and learning a new accent, to name a few. We hope that with fun wholesome material in our scripts, excellent directors to guide our students and committed acting students that your child will learn a great deal at our school, make friends and develop new skills and talents.

How often do the acting students rehearse?

Please see our “Classes” section for your child’s class schedule. Each class varies slightly.

Do I have to make a costume for my child and can we keep our child’s costume?

The costume that your child will wear will actually be the property of The Theater Factory. Your tuition payment will cover the materials needed to construct your child’s costume, the payment we make to the costume designers and the rental fee for the use of that costume. A note about costume changes at our studio: We require that all of our students wear either a bathing suit, (a one piece for girls), gym trunks or gymnastics suit under their costume to preserve modesty during costume changes. This is a mandatory rule.

How much does it cost to take a class at The Theater Factory Co?

Each class is priced separately. Please see “classes” for full information regarding our classes.

A $50 registration fee will hold your student’s place in the class of your choice. You are not guaranteed a place in our classes until we have received your enrollment form and we have received your deposit. This deposit will be credited towards your child’s tuition. Tuition for class participation is due in full before or upon the first day of class.

How many students are in each class?

The number of students varies from production to production. We average around 25 students per class. The older students tend to have more per class as they are doing much larger musical, but again, each semester it varies. We always have two teachers per class period.

How Do I enroll my child into a class at The Theater Factory Co?

Please download our enrollment form on our website, fill it out and mail it to us at 361 1^st Street, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401 with your $50 deposit. Your child will be added to our class list once we have received your $50.00 deposit with your enrollment form. You will receive an email or a phone call confirming that we did receive your form and deposit. Your deposit will insure your child’s spot into a class at The Theater Factory. If our class is full when you try to enroll, we will return your deposit and put your child’s name on our waiting list. If you don’t have capability to download our enrollment form, please call us at 681-1805 and we will be happy to send you a form.

What if we decide that we don’t want to be in the class after we enroll, what happens?

You may have a full refund if you decide to withdraw your child from any of our classes, if you withdraw within the first two weeks of the trimester. This refund however excludes your $50 deposit. After two weeks into the trimester, there will be no refunds as we will have made production decisions by then that would be very difficult to recover.

Does my child need to audition to get into the class?
No. Auditions are stressful to even the most seasoned actors; therefore we have decided that the auditioning process will be part of our curriculum. With our class sizes so small it is our hope that all actors will feel like they had ample time acting on the stage.

Registration Day

Anyone interests in having their child attend our acting school may attend our Registration Day that we hold each semester. This will be a scheduled time that is prior to our classes starting each semester. At this meeting you will receive your child’s class schedule including your child’s Production Week schedule. You will also be given your child’s script and music for the semester if he/she is in a musical. This is a great time to ask any questions you may have for the director, costume directors, choreographers, and stage manager. Your child’s instructor will also be there for you and your child to meet.

What will the time commitment be for me, the parent?
Parents are always welcome to attend class with their children, but it is not required that you do stay for our class time. We appreciate your help with your child memorizing his or her part, also in finding someone to construct your child's costume. Having your child to class on time is of paramount importance; also picking up your child as soon as his class is over is most helpful.

If you find that you would be interested in your child attending our school or if you know of someone who might be interested in taking some classes from us, please feel free to pass this information along to them. If you are interested in enrolling your child, we are now accepting enrollment for our classes.