When Alex Ault takes the stage in “Children’s Letters to God,” he will continue a long family tradition while starting a new chapter.
“I practically live here,” said Ault, looking around the Festival Playhouse in Olde Town Arvada.
The Arvada 12-year-old follows his father, grandfather and great grandfather into the Players Guild. The eldest Ault started the Players Guild in 1936 in Denver.
This month, the Guild’s 70th season begins with its first musical.
Charles’ son Charley Jr. took over the theater and has been pushing the envelope with the company ever since. He moved the company to Arvada in 1990 and it has developed a reputation as a creative community theater.
“My dad really loved to do things he was familiar with,” Charley Ault said. “I am constantly doing things I’ve never done before.”
The show is also a first for the area.
Although the musical has been performed all over the world, it is the first production of “Children’s Letters” in the United States outside of New York City.
Charley found the play by coincidence because he sat next to Stuart Hample, author of the book “Children’s Letters to God,” at the New York show. Chatting with his neighbor during intermission, they realized the two were a good match.
“He told me ‘Yours is exactly the type of organization we want to put this show in,’” said Charley Ault.
His wife Donna said she was enamored with the show from the start.
“When we saw it, we thought, ‘We have to do it. This is incredible,’” said Donna Ault, who immediately started thinking about the cast. “Both of us saw our grandson as being one of the characters.”
After 80 kids auditioned for the show, three Ault grandkids ended up in the cast. With just five kids in the show, the Aults wanted to include more children by creating three casts — one for each weekend performance.
“In community theater, everyone ought to be able to do something,” Charley Ault said.
He added the second and third casts also serve as understudies for children who would be prone to falling ill after weeks of daily rehearsals.
However, all the kids are taking the play very seriously, he said, working as hard as the leads.
“I love the part where we’re all stars,” said Sam Van Wetter, 11, of Wheat Ridge.
One child is e-mailing a Broadway cast member to chat about his role. Other children’s parents report kids sitting in tree houses at home and singing songs.
“They are working really hard to accomplish something that they feel is as important as I do,” Charley Ault said.
He said the show threads a plot from children’s real questions to God, and the resulting message is about tolerance and cooperation.
“Everybody’s going to walk away feeling really, really good,” said Charley Ault.