A number of organizations in Butler County present theater productions for children or have them participate in shows.

That number of children's theater groups will grow when Pittsburgh International Children's Theater comes to Seneca Valley Intermediate High School.

That group announced it will present three performances at the school for its 2009-10 season.

Existing county groups have been drawing in youthful patrons for a number of years.

Ralph Christy Jr., director of the group Sing Hosanna!, said the nonprofit is going into its 30th year, which shows there is room for more children's theater in the county. Children are involved in every production.

"We start at age 7 and we have had productions with kids who are five, and when we do religious productions we have a 6-month-old for baby Jesus," Christy said. "Most of our fall shows highlight our kids."

Christy said 30 to 50 children participate in the fall and spring productions.

"In the summertime, we do a children's performing arts camp, and within that they come and write their own musical, paint scenery and make costumes, and at the end of the week they do a performance for the family," Christy said.

Several performing arts sessions are held at the camp, which brings in 40 to 50 children each year.

"I think we are pretty unique in the area because we are the only group that takes children as young as we do and they are not on the sidelines," Christy said. "A lot of times they become the main aspect of a scene or number. They are an intricate part of our organization."

Christy said it is a great learning tool for children to experience the performing arts, to learn how to get along with other people and to be cooperative.

Gordon Cavalero of the Summer Dramatics Project said his program, which involves those from ages 10 to 24, puts on a musical every summer. More than 100 children from throughout the county participate in the program each year, whether it's performing onstage or working behind the scenes.

Cavalero holds auditions every Memorial Day before picking specific children for each role, but at the same time, there is a no-cut policy.

"I like to keep everyone involved, and you can have a big chorus," Cavalero said. "The kids learn a lot about putting on a show, commitments and pulling together as a team."

After auditions are complete, the group rehearses for six weeks at St. Peter's hall in Butler. The scenery is built at the Musical Theater Guild, where props and costumes also are provided. When the show comes together, the curtain goes up at the Succop Theater at Butler County Community College.

A year ago, the project's group was so large that they had two different casts for "Grease!" This past summer there were four shows of "Peter Pan."

"I think mainly it's a venue for the kids to be creative," Cavalero said. "I think it's good to expose them to theater, and it gives them a good background in the process of doing a show, and you get dancing and singing lessons and acting, and a lot of kids go on and get involved in community theater and do high school shows."

Cavalero encourages children to get involved, especially with his no-cut policy.

"Nobody gets frustrated with thinking they were not good enough, and year after year we see the same faces and we watch these kids grow up and a few have gone on to do professional things," Cavalero said. "The night the show opens is so satisfying to see the looks on their faces and they see they have accomplished something."

Cavalero said children's theater not only benefits the participants, but the whole community.

"It gives an outlet for people to come and see something, and I think all arts and the community in Butler are very viable with the symphony and other groups," Cavalero said. "It enhances the community. When people relocate, that's what they ask about — what kind of activities and arts you have in the area."

Cavalero said the Summer Dramatics shows always sell out, because the group has gotten a reputation for producing quality shows.

Larry Stock, cultural director at Butler County Community College, said the Succop Theater is the venue for several children's theater performances a year.

As part of its Performing Arts Series, the college has hosted magician Tim Kutch several times; the Musical Theater Guild's series occasionally includes children's shows; the Summer Dramatics project is staged there; and a portion of the Kids On Campus summer program includes a theater workshop.

Stock said audiences at the 442-seat theater are hard to predict for any type of show.

"I've had mixed results. What works best in busing kids in from the (Butler) junior high school," he said.

A troupe sometimes gives a special matinee performance for the junior high students, who fill the theater.