They go the distance

Marisa O’Neil

When Laurie Kotas’ children set their sights on attending the Orange

County High School of the Arts, they had two major obstacles to

overcome -- the audition and a 350-mile commute.

After her son Cory, 15, and daughter Bree, 16, passed their auditions to enter the school’s music and theater program last year,

Kotas packed up the kids and moved to Newport Beach. Now her husband,

Paul, commutes between Newport on the weekends and Phoenix, Ariz. for

his real estate job during the week.

“Our kids have wanted to go [to Orange County High School of the

Arts] for years,” Laurie Kotas said. “There just came a time in our

lives when we said: ‘If we’re going to do this, we’re going to have

to do this now.’”

Now Cory and Bree attend the public high school in Santa Ana,

which, in addition to traditional academics, has 10 art

conservatories, including opera, creative writing, visual arts and

ballet folklorico.

“They were already in art school in Arizona,” she said. “But the

level of experience of the teachers drew us here. And it’s a very

strong school, academically.”

More than 1,200 students in grades seven through 12 attend the

school, which relocated to an old bank building on Main Street from

Los Alamitos a few years ago. Students from all over Southern

California attend tuition-free. The school operates on state funds

and donations.

Students who pass auditions and enroll in the school take their

academic classes from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. They

then do their “conservatories” from 2 to 5 p.m., music and theater

department Chair Jeff Paul said. If they’re practicing for a

performance, their day runs even longer.

“It’s almost like two schools under one roof,” Paul said. “It can

be a long day, and if you’re in a production, then there’s an extra

three hours of rehearsal on top of that.”

Brittany Cornelius, a senior from Costa Mesa, started out in

school productions and community theater when she went to Ensign

Middle School. She transferred to Orange County High School of the

Arts her freshman year.

“It really is kind of like ‘Fame,’” Cornelius said. “You walk

through the halls and there are all these really talented kids

dancing and singing and drawing. Instead of P.E., we do jazz or tap.”

But students can’t just sing and dance their way through school,

she said.

“It is challenging,” she said. “For the past five weeks, I’ve been

here every night until 8:30, on top of other classes and homework.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s taught me a lot of responsibility and

time management.”

Students in each conservatory may do additional work as needed, by

auditioning for shows, doing performances or exhibitions. The music

and theater conservatory puts on four musicals and three plays each

year, Paul said.

This weekend, Paul is directing Cory and Brittany in a production

of “Godspell” in the school’s Symphony Hall, a refurbished church.

Junior Jennie Geoffroy of Newport Beach and eighth-grader Brandijo

Kistler of Costa Mesa are also in the show.