“Schoolhouse Rock” goes live with the help of a McIntosh grad

Ryan Pierini is used to having upwards of six to eight weeks to direct a play. For his latest production, he has less than three.

And he’s working with children.

Pierini, who graduated from McIntosh High School in 1994 and is now a theater professor at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC), is back home for the summer as director of a youth drama camp at the Fayetteville YMCA. The camp, consisting of children aged seven to 13, is putting on a production of “Schoolhouse Rock Live, Jr.,” a musical with a collection of classic “Schoolhouse Rock” songs like “Conjuncton Junction” and “Unpack Your Adjectives.”

The younger children (ages seven to eleven) attend a two-week camp in the mornings and afternoons to work on set design and improve their English skills. Older children attend a three-week night camp to learn parts for the play.

“We’re trying to teach that learning English should be fun,” Pierini said. “We’re putting the play together, and at the same time we’re teaching things like adjectives and nouns.”

Pierini got his start acting in high school productions and eventually moved on to directing. He got his undergraduate degree at Georgia College and his masters at Oxford at the University of Mississippi.

“My dad wasn’t very happy at first,” Pierini said. “He asked me to do something else, so I minored in math. But then he saw me in [a production of] ‘Hamlet,’ and after that he never asked me about it again.”

He then moved to working with college students at MGCCC, with a small break after Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi.

“The college took a little damage, but we were back up and running in two weeks,” he said.

Pierini has continued to do theater work outside of the college, including directing a production of “Guys and Dolls” for the Fayette Players in 2000.

But there’s a big difference working with college students and working with children, Pierini said.

“Kids are more willing to explore and create with their imaginations,” he said. “That can be harder for college kids.”

Pierini has used this imagination to improve the production. The children are working on every part of the production, from music and art to dance and acting. In addition, Pierini has added some audience participation to the show.

“I don’t want to give specifics away, but I want the audience to laugh and have fun,” he said.

“Schoolhouse Rock Live, Jr.” will be performed Saturday, July 29 at the YMCA Lodge, with shows at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 9-16 and free for children under eight.