Fantasy Playhouse Collaboration Provides Hands-On Professional Experience

                                                                                                                                                 By Jeremiah McDow

Alabama A&M University students took center stage this month through a workforce development partnership that blends classroom instruction with professional production experience.

Members of AAMU’s Bulldog Players joined Arts Huntsville and the City of Huntsville District 1 to present Fantasy Playhouse Children’s Theater & Academy’s “Anansi the Spider,” a 45-minute production rooted in West African folklore. The play was first performed Feb. 6 at the Calvary Hills Community Center Theater before moving to campus Feb. 9 for two free performances in the Johnson Little Theater inside the Morrison Fine Arts Building.

The production centers on the trickster spider Anansi, known for wisdom, mischief and storytelling, and combines African folklore, music, dance and life-size and shadow puppetry.

The collaboration is part of an ongoing partnership between AAMU’s Department of Visual, Performing and Communications Arts and Fantasy Playhouse, designed to prepare students for professional opportunities in the performing arts. Fantasy Playhouse reaches tens of thousands of children and families annually through productions, education and outreach. The partnership reflects a shared commitment to arts education, workforce development and community engagement.

Original music concepts and performance elements were developed by the AAMU Bulldog Players, the department’s student performance ensemble.

To support the production’s development, AAMU and Fantasy Playhouse invited Sifiso Mabena, a South African artist based in New York and a colleague of Artistic Director Stephen Tyler Davis at Sarah Lawrence College. Mabena led immersive workshops with students, mentoring them in music composition, storytelling structure and performance technique while helping move the production from concept to stage.

“She guided our Bulldog Players and was a real part of our creative workforce development program,” said Jill Balch-Coon, assistant professor of performance. “Everybody who helped develop this play were Alabama A&M students.”

Mobina later returned to assist with refinements as students recorded vocal elements, expanded musical components and revised the script in collaboration with Davis. The production evolved to include additional songs, puppetry and visual storytelling elements.

For students, the experience offered both creative expression and professional preparation.

“This play is a beautiful dream brought together by members of the Bulldog Players,” said Shyla Wade, a junior honors communications media major who served as stage manager and understudy. “The message behind the show is the importance of storytelling.”

Delvon Taylor, a junior communications media major from Miami and the production’s narrator, said the ensemble provides space for students to grow artistically while developing confidence.

“The best part of being with the Bulldog Players is being able to show your diversity creatively,” Taylor said. “It’s a place to share my story with the world.”

Balch-Coon said the play’s message is especially meaningful for young audiences.

“We all deserve to tell our story,” she said. “If we tell our stories, we can find connections with one another.”