"Jasper Fancies...Broadway Bound"
by August Krickel
(reprinted from the January/February 2015 issue of Jasper magazine)
"If I have to, I can literally do anything." Dedra Daniels Mount is referring to the many times she has staged no-frills children's productions on the existing sets of season shows at local theatres, or on the narrow "apron" space in front of the curtain, or even the time she did It's a Wonderful Life in the middle of a shopping mall. This can-do attitude, however, is an apt description of her career over the last 30-plus years, 16 of which have been spent leading the Broadway Bound Musical Theatre Company. Mount began lessons at age four in Rockingham, NC: "15 minutes of ballet, 15 minutes of tap, and 15 minutes of baton," she recalls. "To this day I can tell you that my ballet routine was 'one glissade and arabesque,' " and she sings the nursery rhyme mnemonic with a huge grin. After moving to Columbia, she studied with a number of teachers including Pam Inabinet Bailey, and made her debut at 12 as a jitterbug and mini-tornado in a Bette Herring-directed Wizard of Oz at Workshop Theatre.
Mount majored in theatre at Newberry College, not dance. "I didn't want to spend the rest of my life wrapping my leg behind my head," she laughs, but by then she was also teaching dance and performing in cabaret shows with the "Follies," a group of young performers featured at local clubs and at trade shows organized by Chernoff-Silver and the Chamber of Commerce. In her early 20s, she bought an existing studio in St. Matthews, and for the next seven years commuted there from Irmo where she and husband Jimmy Mount lived. She acted, sang, and choreographed everywhere, performing in the first two productions of Rocky Horror at Trustus, and Nunsense at Act One. Herring spotted Mount singing at the Capital Club, and remembered her from the Oz ensemble a decade earlier. "She cornered me in the bathroom," Mount remembers, and offered her the role of Dorothy in a new Oz presented by Workshop. "I'm a belter," Mount protested, but she agreed, and also began choreographing shows for Herring. Graduating into playing the Witch a few years later at Herring's Upstage Children's Theatre -- she delivers a spine-tingling witch's cackle as she tells the story -- she suddenly found herself in the director's chair when Herring wanted to take a summer off. Upstage eventually transitioned into the Playhouse Family Theatre, under Mount's leadership, just as economic downturn in St. Matthews (and the long drive) led her to close that studio.
By the late 90s she was also a mom, and teaching at six different schools and studios. Children's programs in the Midlands community theatres were in transition, and she was asked to stage a couple of minimalist Charlie Brown productions in front of the curtain for Town Theatre. Executive Director Sandra Willis offered her the chance to start up a new children's theatre program, but Mount wanted to ensure that not only would her students be able to take classes, but actually have opportunities to perform in real shows, not just recitals. With determination and unbridled optimism, she told Willis that she wanted to "go big, not small," and proposed a full-scale Peter Pan, complete with flying actors and a child in the lead. "You will show that you are willing to invest in a children's program, not just have them invest in you," she explained. "And that can jumpstart a program of classes off the big production that everyone wants to be in, and that everyone wants to see." The strategy worked...and Mount created Broadway Bound, offering instruction in acting, voice and dance at Town Theatre. After seven years, Mount "came home" to Workshop, the site of her first show as a child, and the program flourished there for another eight years. In addition to teaching, Mount directed large musicals like Willy Wonka and The Secret Garden, which offered children the chance to play actual roles alongside adult actors. In 2013, Broadway Bound struck out on its own, re-locating to Gadsden Street in the Vista.
Taking students to competitions was a priority "right off the bat; it was a hook," Mount explains. Dozens of trophies line the wall of the studio reception area, earned at regional and national meets including Bravo, Access Broadway, Platinum, Encore, and Applause. Students have gone on to roles in the national touring companies of Miss Saigon and Newsies, and one, Kelsey Chow, was a regular on the series One Tree Hill, later appearing in Disney Channel shows and The Amazing Spider-Man.
In late 2014, Mount and her husband announced the formation of the non-profit Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project; their first production will be Oliver! presented July 9-12 in the CMFA ArtSpace on Pulaski Street. Mount feels this is a natural part of the cycle of training young performers for college and professional careers. "There comes a time when they need to be exposed to actual drama, and things that have meat, and depth, and they have to go beyond just being able to play 'cute' in a kids' show." There will be several dozen substantial roles for both children and adults. While her students' families have been urging her to take this step for years, she firmly believes in open auditions, noting how she has even cut her own children, all gifted performers, from callbacks in the past. Auditions will be held Saturday, January 31 through Monday, February 2 in the school's space on Gadsden Street.
"If I have to, I can literally do anything." Dedra Daniels Mount is referring to the many times she has staged no-frills children's productions on the existing sets of season shows at local theatres, or on the narrow "apron" space in front of the curtain, or even the time she did It's a Wonderful Life in the middle of a shopping mall. This can-do attitude, however, is an apt description of her career over the last 30-plus years, 16 of which have been spent leading the Broadway Bound Musical Theatre Company. Mount began lessons at age four in Rockingham, NC: "15 minutes of ballet, 15 minutes of tap, and 15 minutes of baton," she recalls. "To this day I can tell you that my ballet routine was 'one glissade and arabesque,' " and she sings the nursery rhyme mnemonic with a huge grin. After moving to Columbia, she studied with a number of teachers including Pam Inabinet Bailey, and made her debut at 12 as a jitterbug and mini-tornado in a Bette Herring-directed Wizard of Oz at Workshop Theatre.
Mount majored in theatre at Newberry College, not dance. "I didn't want to spend the rest of my life wrapping my leg behind my head," she laughs, but by then she was also teaching dance and performing in cabaret shows with the "Follies," a group of young performers featured at local clubs and at trade shows organized by Chernoff-Silver and the Chamber of Commerce. In her early 20s, she bought an existing studio in St. Matthews, and for the next seven years commuted there from Irmo where she and husband Jimmy Mount lived. She acted, sang, and choreographed everywhere, performing in the first two productions of Rocky Horror at Trustus, and Nunsense at Act One. Herring spotted Mount singing at the Capital Club, and remembered her from the Oz ensemble a decade earlier. "She cornered me in the bathroom," Mount remembers, and offered her the role of Dorothy in a new Oz presented by Workshop. "I'm a belter," Mount protested, but she agreed, and also began choreographing shows for Herring. Graduating into playing the Witch a few years later at Herring's Upstage Children's Theatre -- she delivers a spine-tingling witch's cackle as she tells the story -- she suddenly found herself in the director's chair when Herring wanted to take a summer off. Upstage eventually transitioned into the Playhouse Family Theatre, under Mount's leadership, just as economic downturn in St. Matthews (and the long drive) led her to close that studio.
By the late 90s she was also a mom, and teaching at six different schools and studios. Children's programs in the Midlands community theatres were in transition, and she was asked to stage a couple of minimalist Charlie Brown productions in front of the curtain for Town Theatre. Executive Director Sandra Willis offered her the chance to start up a new children's theatre program, but Mount wanted to ensure that not only would her students be able to take classes, but actually have opportunities to perform in real shows, not just recitals. With determination and unbridled optimism, she told Willis that she wanted to "go big, not small," and proposed a full-scale Peter Pan, complete with flying actors and a child in the lead. "You will show that you are willing to invest in a children's program, not just have them invest in you," she explained. "And that can jumpstart a program of classes off the big production that everyone wants to be in, and that everyone wants to see." The strategy worked...and Mount created Broadway Bound, offering instruction in acting, voice and dance at Town Theatre. After seven years, Mount "came home" to Workshop, the site of her first show as a child, and the program flourished there for another eight years. In addition to teaching, Mount directed large musicals like Willy Wonka and The Secret Garden, which offered children the chance to play actual roles alongside adult actors. In 2013, Broadway Bound struck out on its own, re-locating to Gadsden Street in the Vista.
Taking students to competitions was a priority "right off the bat; it was a hook," Mount explains. Dozens of trophies line the wall of the studio reception area, earned at regional and national meets including Bravo, Access Broadway, Platinum, Encore, and Applause. Students have gone on to roles in the national touring companies of Miss Saigon and Newsies, and one, Kelsey Chow, was a regular on the series One Tree Hill, later appearing in Disney Channel shows and The Amazing Spider-Man.
In late 2014, Mount and her husband announced the formation of the non-profit Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project; their first production will be Oliver! presented July 9-12 in the CMFA ArtSpace on Pulaski Street. Mount feels this is a natural part of the cycle of training young performers for college and professional careers. "There comes a time when they need to be exposed to actual drama, and things that have meat, and depth, and they have to go beyond just being able to play 'cute' in a kids' show." There will be several dozen substantial roles for both children and adults. While her students' families have been urging her to take this step for years, she firmly believes in open auditions, noting how she has even cut her own children, all gifted performers, from callbacks in the past. Auditions will be held Saturday, January 31 through Monday, February 2 in the school's space on Gadsden Street.