Workshop Introduces Kids to Theater

For Carol Allen, one of the most difficult things in life is to get up on stage in front of a roomful of people--not a thought she wants to share with the cast of 65 kids in the summer musical theater workshop she directs at the Northridge Recreation Center.

The eight-week, $300 workshop, now in its 22nd summer, gives kids ages 7 to 17 the opportunity to learn all aspects of staging a musical. This year, they will perform “Oliver!”

The first six weeks of the workshop, the novice actors rehearse four days a week for four hours. The final two weeks are spent performing four shows each week for the public, family and friends.

As the show’s director, Allen makes sure every student has a chance to perform in both speaking and chorus roles, design the sets and change the scenery.

“Everybody is involved in everything with the show, and everyone is guaranteed to have a line,” said Allen, who has been involved with the workshop for 11 years. “No one is going to go all summer and just be in the chorus; that’s boring.”

Finding a musical with 65 parts is no easy task, so Allen has two complete casts. In one, a child will have a speaking role; in the other, that child will be a chorus member. The two casts alternate for performances.

“Casting is always difficult. This year all the boys wanted to be Oliver and all the girls wanted to be Nancy, but I want them all to know that every part is important,” Allen said.

One of the actors, Brittney Chaffin, 10, of Northridge, sat on the gym floor, studiously making notes in her script.

“I’ve had an interest in acting since I don’t know when, but this is my first time trying it. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s not, so I practice a lot,” she said. “But this is really, really fun. It gives us something to do during the summer instead of sitting home and watching TV.”

Another first-time actor, 8-year-old Mason Kale, said he thinks he’s got the secret to acting all figured out.

“Just memorize your line and the one before it, so you know when to say it,” he said.

Mason said that if Allen were asked about him, she would probably say he talks too much during rehearsals. But he points out it’s for a good reason: “I ask a lot of questions because I want to make the play as good as it can be.”

A veteran actor now in his 12th year with the workshop, Andrew Ware Lewis, 21, joined the musical workshop as a 10-year-old.

“That first day I was so nervous I was crying,” Ware Lewis recalled. “Back then, the whole first day of the workshop was spent auditioning for parts. It was very scary, but I enjoyed it and came back the next year.”

His second summer was Allen’s first. The two made an immediate connection--one that prompted Ware Lewis to accept Allen’s offer to work with her on the productions during his school breaks.

Ware Lewis will be a senior in the fall at Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash., where he’s majoring in theater with a minor in music studies.

“I love coming back each summer because a lot of the kids remind me of me,” said Ware Lewis, who spent two summers as assistant director before becoming the vocal director this year. “When they first start, they’re all nervous, but once they get up on stage, they realize the thrill of the theater and of the live stage.”

One of the best things workshop participants learn is confidence, he said.

“It gives them so much confidence and prepares them to face other challenges in life. Plus, you make some really good friendships through this program,” said Ware Lewis, who met his closest friend at his first workshop.

Allen agreed.

“There are not a lot of things in life where you can see instant results and get instant gratification. But this is definitely one of them,” she said.

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“Oliver!” will be performed Aug. 11-13 and Aug. 17-19 at 7:30 p.m., and Aug. 13 and 19 at 3:30 p.m., in the Northridge Recreation Center gym, 18300 Lemarsh St. Admission for matinees is $5 for reserved seating (the first three rows) and $3 general; for evening performances, $7 for reserved seating and $5 general. Information: (818) 349-7341.