Branching out

Paul Saitowitz

Amid a bristle of positive energy that could only come from either a

drama kid or a youth-oriented church leader, Chad Halliburton -- he

encompasses both -- has a new theater company on the rise in

Newport-Mesa.

Three Trees Theatre, an independent offshoot of the youth- and

fashion-driven ROCKHarbor church -- where tattoos and tight black

T-shirts go hand in hand with Bibles -- is the affable Halliburton’s

brainchild.

The theater, though made up of Christians from several churches at

its core, will focus on performing secular plays with a deeper

thought-provoking message.

“There is so much theater out there with so many great messages

that we don’t feel we need to focus on putting on specifically

Christian plays,” he said. “We have our mission and we don’t hide

that, but we don’t want to alienate anyone.”

Halliburton speaks with a passion for the theater that seems to be

driven by a love of the art medium, rather than a need proselytize.

“Sometimes people are weary of church productions, but we just

want to put on great plays that are done well,” he said. “Theater is

really moving and powerful, and we just want people to enjoy our

shows.”

There is a hope down the road to put on original productions, but

at this point, the company is too small to undertake something of

that nature.

Thus far, the group has put on “Eleemosynary,” by Lee Blessing,

and it has just begun its run of “The Miser” by Moliere. “The Miser”

opened Thursday night.

In order for a Three Trees play to pass muster and make it to the

stage, it must undergo scrutiny by a nine-member board. Board members

decide if the deeper meaning of the play is something they want to

convey to the audience, and if the play is something they want to

represent the company.

“We have some heated debates when it comes to that,” Halliburton

said. “We can always tell who has really read the play and who has

just read the basic summary of it.”

Three Trees holds open auditions for the crew and

behind-the-scenes roles, but not for the actors.

“We feel since we are Christians, the actors should be filled by

people who believe in our cause,” he said.

As of now, all the performances are at the Lyceum Theatre on the

campus of Vanguard University, but the company will be moving to a

permanent location on the new ROCKHarbor campus some time in the

fall.

Three Trees is a separate entity from ROCKHarbor, but at this

point, it’s dependent on the church for its production and funding.

“ROCKHarbor gives us the money to put the plays on, and we pay

them back through ticket sales,” Halliburton says. “We have a great

relationship with them, but we are separate from them.”

“The Miser” will be performed at 8 p.m. tonight at the Lyceum

Theatre, 55 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa.