Katie Martin, Spotlight Acting Academy owner, said she always liked being in the spotlight.

Martin said she remembers going home and repeatedly jumping off her bed in an attempt to fly after attending a theatrical production of “Peter Pan” as a 4 or 5 year-old at which actors sprinkled fairy dust on her.

“I remember watching that show, and that was the show where I was just like, ‘This is what I want to do,’” Martin said. “I was one of those kids that, before I could read, was performing on my parents’ fireplace. So, they were like, ‘This child needs to do theatre,’ and of course that was correct.”

Martin, whose professional credits include being on stage and on screen, said theater contains several unique elements.

“The difference between theater and film is theater’s so much larger because your audience could be very far away, and film is so small,” Martin said. “I like the large performing [venues} better, and I also like that it’s live because I think it’s just more challenging.”

After identifying a need for a children’s theater school in the Katy area, Martin said opening Spotlight Acting Academy in 2013 was a natural progression. She put the majority of her acting endeavors on hold to instead impart her knowledge of the industry to young, aspiring actors.

The business had humble beginnings: it started out in Martin’s garage for two years before moving to the Villagio Town Center in summer 2015. The company has had significant growth over the last year, and Martin said the experience has been very rewarding.

“I like that now I have my own [theater],” she said. “I really do like to see the kids grow. They have a lot of opportunity here, and we’ve had some of the kids that we’ve had since our very first show [who] are still with us.” [totalpoll id="165216"]

The academy offers workshops, private lessons, parties and is adding preschool music classes in the fall. Martin’s main focus is summer production classes where students audition for, rehearse and perform a play in front of a live audience. This summer’s production classes are set to include four sessions of “The Wizard of Oz” and two sessions of “Fame Jr.”

Martin said that, although classes are split into two groups, she most enjoys seeing all ages work together during the summer production class performances.

“I find it works better [to have all ages performing together] because the younger kids learn so much from the older kids,” Martin said. “And the older kids, I’m like, ‘Set an example on how to behave.’ I find it works really well with the right show.”

Martin—who employs an in-house music director, choreographer and preschool instructor—said Spotlight’s emphasis is on versatility. Part of the teaching formula is keeping classes small to allow staff to provide more individualized instruction.

“We teach them to be the triple threat, so they learn singing, dancing and acting here,” she said.

Martin said she is excited for this summer’s production classes.

“They sell out,” Martin said. “I’m always like, ‘buy your tickets ahead of time because they will be gone.’"

Summer Productions Class Performance Schedule

Tickets cost $10 per show. All shows are performed by Spotlight Acting Academy students.

"The Wizard of Oz"

• Session 1:
  July 1 at 7PM
  July 2 at 2PM


• Session 2:
  July 22 at 7PM
  July 23 at 2PM

"Fame Jr."

• Session 1:
  July 2 at 7PM
  July 3 at 7PM


• Session 2:
  July 23 at 7PM
  July 24 at 2PM