Set to stage it themselves

Elia Powers

During Newport Beach Theatre Company productions, parent volunteers

say there are times when it feels like the inmates are running the

asylum.

Backstage, young actors and actresses crisscross as they prepare

for their cues. Teenagers apply makeup to other teenagers, and kids

can opt to run the lights and pull the curtains.

“I feel like the head prisoner,” Ana Maria Gedney, 24, said

jokingly. “It can get pretty loud before a show. My famous line is

‘Stop talking forever.’”

Gedney is the director of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” the

latest musical performance presented by the 4-year-old Newport Beach

nonprofit youth theater company.

The show, a Broadway spinoff of Charles Schultz’s comic strip

“Peanuts,” opens tonight at Vanguard University’s Lyceum Theater.

Darcie Schott, a Newport Beach resident who serves on the

company’s board of directors, describes the show as a whimsical

comedy. It chronicles a day in the life of Charlie Brown as he goes

to glee club practice and interacts with his friends.

“It appeals to a wide range of audiences,” said board of directors

president Peter Smith. “It’s a fun show for kids, and adults who grew

up reading the comic will get a big kick out of it.”

About 25 students, ranging in age from 7 to 21, are part of the

troupe. Some are novice or first-time actors, and the company

embraces them, Schott said.

“I like the fact that kids don’t have to have experience,” said

Schott, whose daughter, 7-year-old Josephine, is the youngest cast

member. “We want to give kids the chance to grow their talents as

actors.”

That is the unofficial motto of the company, which was founded by

parents. The first show, “Annie,” debuted in the fall of 2001.

Most of the board members are parents, each of whom donate at

least 10 volunteer hours to each performance. “You’re a Good Man,

Charlie Brown,” is produced by a parent, Ana Wade.

Some adult volunteers have a background in the arts. Schott is an

independent film developer and producer. Gedney directs school plays

at Newport Elementary School.

Others have no experience, but are drawn in by the performances.

Smith, a Newport Beach resident, helped build the set for a

performance of “Footloose.”

“Last night I found myself tying a feather to a hat,” Smith said.

But much of the work is done by young artists. Two students from

the Orange County High School of the Arts are helping with production

and design on this show. In past performances, the directors and

stage managers have been students.

“We teach them to be self-sufficient, so they are in charge of

their own blocking and costumes,” Gedney said. “We don’t want them to

rely on a bunch of parents.”

Gedney said the company puts on two to three productions per year.

Past performances include “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor

Dreamcoat” and “Cinderella.”

The board of directors has arranged for a group of children from

the Orangewood Children’s Home to attend a matinee performance this

weekend.

To fund performances like this, Schott said the company relies

primarily on money raised through the Roosters, a Newport Beach

philanthropic organization.

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.