Bringing All Ages to the Stage: SACT Celebrates 45 Years with New Adult Ensemble

The idea had been on Janice Flower’s mind since 1995, her earliest days with St. Albert Children’s Theatre: could they offer similar experiences for the singing-and-acting adults in St. Albert?

“There are a lot of people in this community that have been, for a long time, going out and traveling to other communities that offer community theatre, specifically musical theatre,” She explains. “There really was nothing available in this community for them.”

An opportunity arrived as COVID-restrictions relaxed: St. Albert Children's Theatre was returning to the stage, but the two-and-a-half year gap meant some of their older youths—typically well-versed in productions by then, and taking on leadership positions to guide their younger castmates—hadn’t had the chance to hone those skills.

“We thought, well, maybe this is the year that we open it up to adults and just see if there's any interest at all,” Flower recalls.

There certainly was: eight adults auditioned, with two ultimately performing in that year’s show, and the number has ticked upward every year since. This year’s production of Annie features 15 in the cast. And now, in time for St Albert Children’s Theatre’s 45th anniversary, Flower is forming an all-adult troupe with a show of their own.

The youth will of course still have their usual yearly shows, and Flower sees the two corps coming together for an intergenerational winter show. The adults who’ve come out so far, Flower notes, have been thrilled with the quality of the work they get to do.

“They're so happy to have something in this community, and that they don’t have to go somewhere else to do this,” she says. “The adults that are part of Annie, they're surprised at the level of experience that they're getting […] it feels more like training than community theatre.

“The vocal work that they're doing with [Annie vocal musical director] Janet Nicol, as an example—they're learning as much as if they were taking private lessons,” she adds.

The show Flower has selected for the inaugural adult show is Baby, which debuted on Broadway in 1983. It follows three couples of differing ages who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant. It’ll run during the evenings of the 2026 International Children’s Festival of the Arts (with the young company’s show, Finding Nemo Jr, running during the daytimes).

“[There’s] a list of shows that I've always wanted to do, but that maybe are a bit too adult to consider doing with the kids,” She says. This was one of those.

Baby isn’t cast yet: Flower notes that an audition notice will be up on the St. Albert Children's Theatre website soon. So those who haven’t yet had the opportunity can put their names in to get involved.

“It’s a good time to try it—45th anniversary,” Flower says. “Gonna try something new, and we'll see how it goes.”

Article written by Paul Blinov

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