Myles Moore                                                Marquis Hickman

PCYC Theater Arts Students Take Stage at Guthrie Lab Theater

Marquis Hickman has known since he was four-years-old that he wanted to be an actor. Myles Moore had often wanted to try acting, though he had had little experience with it. 

However, in a relatively short period of time the two 12-year-old students of PCYC’s Capri Children’s Theater Arts Program are racking up some pretty solid theater experiences to add to their résumés. 

They were both cast last fall in the Guthrie Lab Theater’s production of “Macbeth.” 

Each was practicing for their roles last summer in PCYC’s production of “The Sound of the Rain” in the Capri Children’s Theater Arts Program.  That is when the Guthrie Theater was looking for four young local actors for “Macbeth.”  A touring company from London performed the production which was sponsored by the Guthrie. 

After a dozen performances at the Guthrie, and two summers at PCYC’s Capri Children’s Theater Arts Program, Myles said that he is hooked on acting.

“It’s really fun,” Myles said.  “I really like being on stage and I don’t have problems memorizing my lines.”   

Myles’ prior performance experience included a school play at his elementary school, and African drumming at Harvest Preparatory Academy in North Minneapolis .

Marquis was already hooked on acting before he enrolled in PCYC’s Theater Arts Program.  He was among the group of students to enroll in 2002 when PCYC first offered the program. 

Marquis said he had had little formal training in theater before coming to PCYC’s program.  However, he did have a lot of “on-the-job” training from age 5 when he first performed in the traveling Broadway production of “Ragtime” when it came to Minneapolis . 

He also performed in the Stepping Stone Theater production of "The River of Grass" at the Landmark Center in St. Paul before coming to PCYC.

“Acting is my life,” said Marquis.  “I like to be open and out there.  It is exciting to role play—to pretend to be someone you are not.” 

Both Marquis and Myles said the training they received at PCYC prepared them for their roles in “Macbeth.” 

“That’s when I learned a lot about music from T. Mychael Rambo,” said Marquis.  “He taught us a lot about music and how to enunciate our words.  “Austene (Van Williams-Clark) taught us how to dance and move.” 

Rambo and Van Williams-Clark are among the team of professional actors who teach at the PCYC’s Children’s Theater Arts program.

“I learned that you can’t slack off,” said Myles.  “You have to give acting your all.  If you slack off, someone might notice you.  That might be the person who will recommend you for a play or a commercial or a movie.”

Someone at the Guthrie noticed Myles and Marquis.