Going out to play

Deepa Bharath

Sixth-grader Julian Plews smiled shyly as his friends admired the

thick, red velvet coat that was draped over his small and slender

frame.

“Nice costume, Capt. Hook,” a girl in a Native American costume

ran up to him and said.

Plews and 33 other children were rehearsing this week at the Costa

Mesa Civic Playhouse on the Rea Elementary School’s campus for their

production of “Peter Pan,” to be staged this weekend.

The production is part of the Children’s Theater organized by

theater director Damien Lorton. This is the fifth consecutive year

Lorton has put together the production, which is not only an exposure

for children to the performing arts, but an after-school program that

provides them with food and homework assistance.

“It’s a totally free program,” Lorton said. “Its purpose is to get

kids off the streets and familiarize themselves with the theater. It

teaches them self-discipline and self-respect.”

The program has constantly struggled with sponsorship, but was

successful in getting food donated by companies such as Papa John’s,

Pizza Hut and McDonald’s, he said.

But Lorton said it has been worth the trouble.

“We often see that the children’s experience with us changes them

forever,” he said. “They often come back as volunteers or drop in to

help.”

Nicole Cassesso, a Newport Harbor High graduate directing “Peter

Pan,” starred in some of these productions herself.

“It’s my first time directing,” she said. “It’s pretty amazing to

go from being told what to do into being responsible for 34 people.”

But the theater took her in when she was a kid and now she’s

giving back, Cassesso said.

“This is a community where kids wouldn’t be doing theater if not

for this,” she said. “Kids are the future of theater and if they

don’t like it or don’t go to it, it wouldn’t exist in the future.”

John Rose, now an eighth-grader at TeWinkle Middle School, also

starred in a few plays when he was in elementary school.

“I think it’s great because it really helps the kids,” he said. “I

still come in because I like it here. I help with cleaning up, do the

spotlights. It’s a lot of fun.”

Fifth-grader Sam Pimetal will play one of the “lost kids” in the

upcoming play.

“It’s my first time, but I like it,” he said. “It’s nice because a

lot of times, you go home and you don’t have anything to do. Here, I

can do something that’s fun.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.