The New York Times: Jill Valentine is pretty sure the kids have a nickname for her: Fun Killer. For nearly four years, Ms. Valentine has been the head guardian of “School of Rock,” which played its last performance on Sunday at the Winter Garden Theater. Guardians care for child actors during rehearsals and before and after performances, making sure they’re fed, watered and rested. Ms. Valentine distributes children’s pain relievers, she runs science flashcards, she confiscates contraband.
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This article displays the Broadway industry from a new perspective: through the eyes of a child. Or rather, the woman who takes care of the child performers. This woman seems to be a wonderful blend of stage manager and babysitter, two roles which I love to take on. Caring for children, especially ones who are passionate and pursuing their dreams, must be an excellent experience. Two summers ago I decided I didn’t want to simply babysit on the weekends, but I wanted to work with kids during the week as well. My sister and I put together phone numbers and reached out to the mothers of girls we loved to babysit. We formed an itinerary of activities and hosted a small summer camp for a portion of the summer. I thought this task would not differ much from babysitting, but I realized how many factors one must take into account when caring for children for extended periods of time. I learned a great deal of patience as well as the importance of looking ahead, both skills which I translated into stage management.
Articles like this are always intriguing to me because they highlight people the world wouldn't have seen otherwise. Personally, I had no idea that Broadway shows had guardians for the kids like this, but it definitely makes sense. I think that when we see these kids on stage performing we kind of feel like they must be more mature because they're talented and performing on broadway, but all kids that age want to play and have fun and don't really know when some behavior is appropriate. This article really shows the people behind the scenes that are responsible for taking care of all those kids. I will say that I find it interesting that she's made an entire career out of taking care of children on broadway, and many other people have made broadway or show business child minding a job. It's the type of thing I have never thought about before, and I've really enjoyed this glimpse into a seldom recognized career.
I have actually done some research and read plenty of articles about Broadway guardians. I have to say this is definitely a job that I would like to have in life, as I really enjoy working with children and theatre. I feel that as an ASM at a children’s theatre, the jobs and responsibilities I have had are very similar to those of a guardian on Broadway but at less of a professional level obviously. This article was different from the others I have read because this one was about a show ending. I think it is really interesting and it must be a special experience to be the guardian for the entire process of a show. And I didn’t realize how many kids have come through the show. I found it interesting how from my experience working backstage with children I related to so many of the situations that she talked about in the article. Most interesting that I found I related to was reassuring the parents. I think there is something to be said about how nervous parents get when their child is in a show no matter the professional lever and how much just a little text back or email to the parents can do so much for reassuring them.
Move over stage management, I think I might have found my new dream job. Seriously, I love children and I really applaud this woman for the great work that she does on a daily basis, even if she is the fun killer. I think that being a child on broadway can be both really exciting and kind of soul crushing, it happens with most child actors where they are in an isolated environment from other kids, but thankfully School of Rock has created a community and made Jill Valentine the matriarch. I think that the work she does is very interesting, considering that she's done six broadway shows, it seems like a perfect combination of theatre and something thats actually full filling. I find it a bit surprising that she doesn't have any kids of her own, you would think that someone that has such a passion for child development would develop a couple of her own, maybe I'll do both when I'm a child wrangler some day.
It is really interesting to me to learn about the complexities of casts with children in it. You think about community theatre, and it is so simple and natural, but the requirements and challenges escalate so quickly. One thing in particular that Jill Valentine said in the article that I was drawn to was the bit about no matter how she was feeling that day, how tired or how distracted, that she needed to be so consistent with the kids to make sure they trusted to her to handle any and all situations that came their way. It is really difficult to handle that many young kids with such nonstop days and weeks. They have a massive responsibility to help every one of those kids reach a point where they can perform as well as possibly.
What a wonderful job Jill Valentine has! I love working with kids, especially in a theatrical setting, and I feel like I would love to be a child guardian. It is certainly a difficult task to keep track of so many children and make sure their well being is taken care of, but when you love what you do and the people you work with, it becomes a much easier and consistent thing. Valentine has even been able to make a full career out of her work, which is incredibly impressive. She seems like she really enjoys her work, and has found a way to balance her fondness for it with professionalism. One of the most striking things she mentioned in this interview was that working with the child actors was like working with “short adults.” Her job as a child guardian sounds like such a unique and rewarding experience overall.
So her definition of fun killer is really just sports killer, removing any possibility of the children enjoying sports? Besides that mild annoyance, the child wrangler position is an amazing position and I deeply respect those who do so, they seem to be dresser, parent, and stage manager to the children all in one. My friend starred in Christmas Story on Broadway and he had a wonderful relationship with his wrangler, but he got slightly more specialized attention being the star of the show. The parents have to really trust these people because they are raising them for a majority of the day during a very critical part of their formative years. I certainly would not let my child be a child actor like this. This is evident in the fact that they like poke bowls not mac and cheese, I find it the saddest thing when children grow up to quickly. I just want them to be kids and enjoy performing.
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