THE Love

JULY 2016

For 16 years, BAMtheatre has enjoyed a starring role in the Hinsdale arts community.

By Alison Bonaguro Photography by Jim Prisching

Before the cast of 70 teenagers piled into Hinsdale United Methodist Church for West Side Story rehearsals, the musical’s director Melanie Lamoureux sat down with Hinsdale Magazine to reflect on the very first rehearsals she held 16 summers ago—the ones in her backyard, when she only had a cast of 15.

That first show in 2001 was a very loose interpretation of Annie.

And it all started with a little boredom.

Lamoureux was only 13 years old and still somewhat new to Hinsdale, when she and her friends Becky and Allie had a sleepover, and decided that they wanted to put on a show that summer.

“We put Annie on the VHS, and we’d rewind it, play a minute of it, stop it, and then type the dialogue on our computers,” she said.

Ultimately, they had a script. All they needed was a cast.

MELANIE LAMOUREUX Founding artistic director of BAMtheatre

JULY 2016

So, Becky, Allie and Melanie (BAM) printed out “I remember sitting in my apartment in Toronto, plain black-and-white flyers, and rode their bikes up trying to come up with different scenarios for the and down the streets of Hinsdale, and passed them next summer,” she said. “We had so many older kids out to kids on the street. who had been with us since the beginning, and they

The girls’ siblings had to do it, Lamoureux said. were so strong that they kept getting all the parts. But And then they recruited a few neighbors and a we also had younger kids who I knew had potential.” handful of other kids. Before they knew it, they had So, in 2007, BAM produced two shows: BAM the cast they needed for their scaled-down, made-for- Juniors did High School Musical, while the 14-andthe-small-stage version of Annie. over crowd performed Fame.

Rehearsals were in the Lamoureux house on This year, almost a decade later, the high school Bodin Street—or in their backyard if the weather and college intensive group tackled West Side cooperated—, and performances were held at Story, and the youth theatre kids will put on one of Clarendon Hills Middle School. Lamoureux’s favorites, Seussical the Musical.

“The night before the first show, me, Becky Even though she is firmly planted behind and Allie were writing handwritten notes to each the scenes—and told Hinsdale Magazine she is of the kids,” she said. “We 100-percent artistically wrote, ‘Hopefully we’ll see fulfilled in that role—, you next summer,’ and after “I never wanted to go try to make there was a time when we’d finished writing all those notes, we were like, ‘I guess it on Broadway; that has just never Lamoureux was the one taking the final bows. now we have to do it again next been my dream. What I love is When she was on summer.’ ” That epiphany made directing and teaching.” stage (she played Rusty in Footloose and Irene BAMtheatre official, and —MELANIE LAMOUREUX Molloy in Hello, Dolly! turned it into something more at Hinsdale Central), than a place for parents to drop Lamoureux says she their kids off for a couple of hours. loved performing, but she soon realized that directing

And since that 2001 debut, Lamoureux has put was just as much of an art as performing. on a BAM show each summer. Even with college, “I never wanted to go try to make it on Broadway; graduate school, marriage and a move to the city, that has just never been my dream,” she said. “What summer has always meant “Hinsdale” to her. I love is directing and teaching, and that love just

“I’ve come back every summer,” she said. “It grew faster than my love for performing.” wasn’t even a choice I made; I was compelled to She honed her directing skills at the Boston come home. I never considered doing an internship Conservatory, where she graduated with a Masters or traveling. I didn’t do the normal things college of Fine Arts in musical theatre in 2011, and is now students did, because if I had, I never would’ve built pursuing a Master’s degree in music education from this.” Northwestern University.

After Annie, there was 2002’s Beauty and the Somewhere between the studying and the Beast, 2003’s The Wizard of Oz, 2004’s Cinderella, directing, Fenwick High School came calling. 2005’s Honk!, and 2006’s Seussical the Musical. Fenwick offered Lamoureux a teaching position,

By then, Lamoureux had graduated from Hinsdale and she started there in 2012. At first, she took on Central High School, and was attending college for the honors choir classes, then an advanced chamber her degree in music education at the University of choir class, then a theatre class—and then a math Toronto. class. Fenwick has also enlisted Lamoureux to handle

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JULY 2016

CHERISHED FAVORITE BAMtheatre’s 2015 production of The Wizard of Oz. Production photos by Time Stops Photography.

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its musicals.

“Fenwick allowed me to see how much I love the education behind the arts,” she said. “There are so many possibilities to inspire and watch people develop and grow, and that’s inspirational for me.”

She said that is why she is so committed to making BAM an educational theatre organization.

“This is not just about getting together and putting on a show,” Lamoureux said. “We want to bring in the actors who are really passionate about studying theatre. Studying—not just doing theatre, but studying it as an art form.

“We develop their acting capabilities, we help them be better dancers, and teach them to use their voices in the right way.”

That mission, she said, is what attracts the kind of kids that want to take their talents to the next level.

“I believe that art has the power to bring the community together,” Lamoureux said. “In 2001, when BAM started, there were few established arts organizations here. Now Hinsdale is home to so many thriving programs.

“These programs are shaping the culture of our town, and making it vibrant and rich with creativity and imagination. My dream for the future is to build a cultural home—a Hinsdale arts facility—for organizations like BAMtheatre to flourish in.

With the support of the community, I know this dream will one day become reality.” n

BAMtheatre’s upcoming events and programs include West Side Story, June 30 through July 2; and Seussical the Musical, Aug. 5-7. Younger children can participate in the Broadway Workshop Series this summer. Visit www. bamtheatre.com for more program information and to purchase tickets.

ONE PROUD MEMBER OF THE “BAM”-ILY: ANDREW SPATAFORA Andrew Spatafora, a Chicago actor who recently played Pinocchio in the Marriott Theater’s musical, told Hinsdale Magazine that BAM’s Wizard of Oz changed everything for him. “When I was in fifth grade, I signed up for the show, and because of Melanie, I was hooked. I did about five more BAM shows, I honed my skills, and then I went on to get a BFA in musical theater from Emerson College. Melanie had a major impact on my decision. Her passion and drive have carried her through the years, and I’m so grateful I played a part in that.”