County to Host High School Theater Festival

Nine hundred students from 50 high schools will gather in Fullerton on Friday through next Sunday for the Southern California Educational Theatre Assn.’s 17th annual high school festival. It will be the first time the event has been held in Orange County.

Three high schools already have won 1987 Most Outstanding Production Awards from the association and will be staging those shows at Plummer Auditorium, 201 E. Chapman Ave. The performances will be open to the public; general admission tickets cost $3.

Chatsworth High, the Los Angeles County winner, will present “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” at 8 p.m. Friday. Eisenhower High, the Riverside-San Bernardino counties winner, will perform “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” at 8 p.m. Saturday. And the Orange-San Diego counties winner, Estancia High of Costa Mesa, will offer “The Dining Room” at 1 p.m. Jan. 24.

Saturday, five high schools will compete for awards in acting and technical achievement. Performing scenes from “Once in a Lifetime,” Orange County’s Mission Viejo High will be up against Kearny High from San Diego County, Granada High and Rowland High from Los Angeles County, and El Rancho High, representing Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The winners will be announced Sunday. Workshops in acting for television and theater, set design, mime, ballet and audition techniques also will be offered.

Occidental College in Los Angeles, where the festival had been held for years, was unable to host it this year because of scheduling conflicts, said Joseph Arnold, chairman of Cal State Fullerton’s theater department.