Stage 101

Suzie Harrison

Since coming on staff in 1998 as the Laguna Playhouse’s education

director, Donna Inglima’s primary responsibility has been to expand the

Youth Theater programs.

The purpose of the Youth Theatre is to establish a strong theater

foundation and education. Classes and workshops include acting, scene

study, creative drama, musical theater, improvisation and audition

techniques.

Part of this summer’s lineup includes a musical theater workshop for

kids ages 9 to 13.

“The Summer Institute’s summer stars runs through July. This summer we

are offering, ‘Kids on Broadway II,’ which focuses on Disney musicals,”

said Inglima.

The playhouse will also host a creative drama and movement workshop

for children 6 to 8.

The Conservatory and Repertory students were enjoying a rap party on

Tuesday where members of the Conservatory II class gave homage to the

season. Joe Lauderdale who works as the youth theater director is also a

key constituent and works in tandem with Inglima on the productions.

These yearlong acting classes are extensive theater-training programs

graduating to the most advanced Repertory programs and include auditions

for every youth theater production during the season.

“They take classes once a week for two hours from September through

June and have a winter and a spring showcase,” Inglima said.

“Some theater programs expect you to do just hours of rehearsal. But

here they really let us get involved in the whole theater process,” said

Jazz Brice, a second-year student in Conservatory II.

Brice explained how closely Lauderdale and Inglima worked with them on

their Greek production by first studying it and learning about the

different facets such as the audience, materials, how they spoke and why

they spoke that way.

“We really had to research it before we had to perform and work on

it,” Brice said.

The playhouse tries to keep the program affordable and partial

scholarships are available for all programs. Its outreach program offers

youth theater productions for local schools with an extensive touring

program.

The outreach program is comprised of adult actors who put on around

166 performances at area schools.

For more information, call Donna Inglima at 497-2787 Ext. 202 or

e-mail www.lagunaplayhouse.com.