Student Gets His Say With ‘Emperor’ Take

An Irvine Valley College student’s determination to make it in theater is paying off with his adaptation of “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” the first student project to run at the Saddleback College Children’s Festival.

Mike Tryon got the “writing bug” while acting in last year’s festival production and initially pitched his adaptation by staging a reading for Blake Gould, the festival’s co-executive director. Gould said he liked Tryon’s take on the emperor, and Tryon created a performance workshop to further develop the script.

In Tryon’s adaptation, the emperor is not so vain but is more a victim of bad advice from an assistant who urges him to revamp his image.

“It has a positive message for kids: to believe in who you are and not what other people think you should be,” Gould said.

The play also focuses on the king’s son, who, unhappy with his princely duties, dreams of being a pirate. “He has a good sense of what makes kids laugh,” Gould said.

“It’s been a long labor of love that shows a level of commitment uncommon for someone Mike’s age,” Gould said. Now at work on a sequel to “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Tryon loves the challenge of children’s theater.

“Through my experience they’re the best audience to work with,” Tryon said. “Kids don’t really have the ‘sitcom mentality.’ They only laugh when something is really funny.”

Tryon plans to transfer to Cal State Fullerton and major in business marketing, which he called “the most lucrative future to support my creative efforts.”

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” runs Wednesdays through Sundays at the Saddleback College outdoor theater until Aug. 16. Shows are 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tickets are $6. Group sales or directions: (949) 582-4656. The college is at 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo.