As soon as rehearsal begins for “Saints of December,” one quickly sees that this is no ordinary children’s theater production.
In the converted basement of her rural Stephens City home, Stacey Sumereau is choreographing 11 girls and three boys, ages 5-12, in something known as physical theater, blending high-energy dance, mime, and acrobatics with original music and narration.
The 38-year-old wife and mother of five is a cantor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Winchester whose resume includes five years as a Broadway touring actress with roles in “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Wizard of Oz.”
“I worked with a company called ‘Syntetic Theater,’ ” said Sumereau. “The couple that founded it are from the Republic of Georgia and it’s not done in many places in the United States. When you’re trained in that technique, you’re not just thinking about how I can stand here and say my lines, but you’re thinking about how I can show this with my body.”
Class begins with an “emotion party,” where children name an emotion and mime it. No words are allowed. “As an actor, you don’t stand up in front of the audience and say, ‘I’m feeling happy right now,’ ” said Sumereau. “You show with your body language how you’re feeling.” The children embrace it with full expression, jumping and gesturing, accompanied by squeals of laughter.
“The Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1772, says that the job of the emotions is to incline us to action,” said Sumereau. “When you’re seeing somebody fully possessed by an emotion on stage, if the thesis behind that scene is good, that will move you because when we see people feeling things, we feel them. Our natural empathy leads us to be moved, which then can help incline people to virtue, which I think is amazing.”
Pacing of the rehearsal is rapid-fire. Sumereau is a natural encourager — exhorting, singing, demonstrating — then pausing to tell three girls: “When you sing, we want to see your eyes. Your eyes are the windows to your soul and we want everyone to see your soul.”
Portraying the lives of six saints in “Saints of December” is also an opportunity for Sumereau to catechize. “They’re living the stories of the saints,” she said. “My kids wake up every morning and they say, ‘Let’s play St. Nicholas, and they all act out St. Nicholas. And then they’re praying to him before bedtime. And same thing with St. Ambrose. It’s helping them live in a way that’s real to them, because that’s what they do as children.”
The classes at the “Stacey Sumereau Studio for the Performing Arts,” which also include ballet and creative movement, have spread by word of mouth, drawing families from Sacred Heart and St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal.
“There’s so much intention in the class,” said Regina Iriarte, who has two daughters participating. “They are fully immersing their emotions and their bodies into the lives of these incredible saints that gives a different level and depth to it. It’s been a wonderful experience.”
Patrick Feuz, 9, said his favorite part is “the acting and all that stuff that happens that’s so cool, like the slow-motion battle, arresting those prisoners, and knocking out people,” he said with a grin.
In less than a year, Sumereau’s unique program has an enrollment of 65 children. She knows that many Catholic parents are reluctant for their children to participate in a secular arts environment.
“You just don’t know if you’re going to show up at a rehearsal and drop your kids off if there’s going to be something that contradicts your faith, ” she said, explaining that all true art comes from God. “It’s such an expression of the creativity of God, and God is exuberant in his creation. Theater is an expression of the authentic experience of living and an invitation to beauty and real community.”
Sumereau, who grew up attending St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Clifton, gets emotional when asked about her unlikely journey. After her career in the New York City theater scene, she discerned religious life and was featured in the Lifetime network 2014 reality show, “The Sisterhood, Becoming Nuns.” She then discerned out, met her future husband, John, and eventually settled with her family in the Shenandoah Valley.
“I feel like this endeavor is the redemption and resurrection of my theater desires in such a beautiful, pure form,” she said. “It’s for God, my community, my children, my parish and evangelization. The beauty of it just brings me to tears.”
Hale is a freelancer in Front Royal.
Find out more
For tickets to “Saints of December” at the Stephens City worship site of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church at 4 p.m. Dec. 13, go to: staceysumereau.com/adventshow.
