Rock Hill academy is solving ‘hardest problem,’ with dancing and singing along the way
A few teenagers squeezed together in a huddle and formed a cheerleading-type stunt to hoist one of the players into the air.
The boy’s head barely missed the ceiling tiles.
But this wasn’t the rehearsal for a big game.
In a small studio in downtown Rock Hill, the teens rehearsed at Showtime Academy, a “triple threat” theater school that teaches singing, dancing, acting and associated arts to kids and adults. The studio is also home to Showtime Theatre Company, which puts on several productions a year.
The nonprofit academy is tuition-based similar to a dance studio, but it also relies on donations, grants, corporate sponsorships and ticket sales to fund the productions.
The space comes at a premium, and company does not have its own theater for performances.
Jennifer and Rob Read, who run Showtime, are almost out of options for space when it comes time to plan, rehearse and perform plays. Sometimes venues quote $40,000 to rent a theater. Local school auditoriums aren’t always available for the length of time needed.
Showtime puts on full musicals with sets, lights and costumes. It can take a few weeks to set up in a space.
“That’s a long time for a school to want to give up their auditorium and allow us to rent in there,” Jennifer Read said. “That is literally our hardest challenge with the theater company every year, is figuring out where the heck are we gonna put these shows on.”
But Read, a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette, has a reason to kick up her heels.
The thespians have a new multi-million dollar performing arts and educational venue in the works they hope will be a show stopper. The 20,000-square foot performing arts center will have state-of-the art classroom space and a 351-seat theater and will be on Automall Parkway between Cherry and Celanese roads.
“The Rock” Arts and Events Center is slated to open in 2025, although an exact date hasn’t been announced. Showtime has an unnamed “angel investor” to help fund the new center.
The Reads hope the new space will alleviate Showtime’s growing pains. The academy has grown to more than 250 students. Shows can have dozens of performers.
“Some of our casts, specifically to our shows, are anywhere for 50 to 70 kids, and getting all those kids to rehearse together at once is really hard in this current space,” Jennifer Read said. “And it gets very tight and it’s a struggle to even accomplish the rehearsal that we want to accomplish in the current space.”
Rock Hill theater camps
The Reads started Showtime Theatre Company in Rock Hill a decade ago after running theater summer camps, Jennifer Read, 47, said. Before moving to York County, the professionally-trained stage actors split their time working in Los Angeles and New York City.
The pair met while performing the stage musical “42nd Street” in Europe. They decided to move to a location with a more temperate climate.
“As we were doing the city shopping, Charlotte and Rock Hill at that time were literally showing up on almost all the same little reports and little stories I was reading online,” Jennifer Read said.
The couple settled in Rock Hill and pursued other careers. Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in theater arts and has a master’s degree in human resources management. She worked in real estate after moving to Rock Hill. Rob Read, 58, worked in theater on cruise ships and has a background as stage manager.
“But while we were here, we still had the itch to be involved in theater,” Jennifer Read said.
It’s showtime
The couple decided to put on the play “Annie” during their summer camps a decade ago and dozens of kids showed up at the audition.
“We had the most overrun orphanage you’ve ever seen,” Jennifer Read said. “But it was so fun and we just realized at that point ‘hey, this is something we can do and we can grow this.’”
Three years ago, the couple started Showtime Academy. Not only does it offer performing arts, it also trains students on technical theater, including classes on costume, lighting and sound design.
“If you really want to train, you’ve got a Radio City Rockette here who is phenomenal,” Rob Read said about his wife. “What she does, she can take you to the next level, but she also has the talent and ability to take someone who is just starting out and teach them the way, too. So it’s open to everybody and I think that’s what parents really like and enjoy about what we do is — everybody is equal.”
Jennifer Read said Showtime offers skills that translate into various facets of everyday life.
“We know that the majority of students are not going to pursue this professionally, but the skills that you can learn as a performer are so translatable into the things that they are going to do in the future, from the very basics,” she said.
She said those skills can guide them in learning to audition, how to research roles, how to enter a room and how to address people.
“We’re just trying to give a place where people can come in, they can be who they are, realize what their creative elements are,” Rob Read added. “They come in here and they say ‘oh, I found my people.’”
Jennifer Read said that the academy is also an outlet for children who can’t keep still or quiet at school.
“Here is an outlet for them, because they can sing and they can dance and they can act and they can find another way to channel that energy and their emotions and their excitement into something positive,” she said.
To learn more about Showtime Academy and Showtime Theatre Company, visit showtimeacademyrh.com.
This story was originally published January 1, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
