When I walked into the darkened auditorium at Hamilton High School yesterday morning, friendly feelings began rushing back in lapping waves — the cast from the marvelous Children’s Civic Light Opera was onstage, swirling through one more dress rehearsal before unfurling their latest production tonight, The Little Shop of Horrors, launching a 3-night-and-day run on the Hami campus.
Every late summer about this time, the hearts of 30 of West L.A.’s most promising performers — from 7 years old to 17 — start beating even faster than usual.
Last time I caught them was 2 years ago for a splendid rendition of Fiddler on the Roof, and I missed last year’s showcase, Thoroughly Modern Millie.
The loftily named Children’s Civic Light Opera is for good reason — this is camp for boys and girls who don’t want to feel like amateurs anymore, a sparkling 8-week summer workshop for schoolboys and girls who aspire to act.
Before Anything Else
Even before you notice that the lights have been turned low — the smashing set is a knockout — you are surrounded, almost overwhelmed, by the thoroughgoing professionalism of what co-founder Diane Feldman Turen has stitched together for the 21st consecutive year.
For all of the summers that the Children’s Civic Light Opera rehearsed at the Amvets building, by Vets Park, and now that the performers are at Hami fulltime, a visitor could mistake the setting for Broadway. Your father’s schooldays acting class, this is not. This is all grown up — with the following important caveats, no pressure, no heat, no barking, all of which might be your first reaction. Rather, a cool professional sheen.
If you are student professional, you don’t have to announce it. Even the intellectually lame will catch the scent of a hint. If you choose to purchase a Lexus, when you return to your neighborhood, you don’t have to hoist a monster-sized purple polka dot billboard declaring, “In Case You Haven’t Noticed, I Now Drive a Luxury Car.” Those who need to know, will.
They come to grow, not to mindlessly play, and in most cases, the whole family becomes involved. Significantly, we are told by Ms. Turen’s crack staff, by Ms. Turn, and by some of the actors that they are treated as grownups, as peers, not as children would be.
Allison Weintraub, a 9-year acting veteran and recent graduate of Northwestern U., who has returned to serve as an assistant to Ms. Turen, said that new families are informed this is not a place where you drop your kid off and pick him up. The accent is on family participation.
A Subtle Manner
In a manner almost understated, Ms. Turen, who, oddly enough, is understated, establishes a loving, learning, refreshingly welcoming tone usually not associated with high-powered, off-hours educational ventures.
Tell me if she isn’t the kind of teacher you wish you had studied with in your classroom. “When I work with young people,” she said, “it’s about knowing that everybody comes into the world, comes into this program, wired with information. They all have talent. They all have capability. It’s about us nurturing that, validating that, noticing that, and having them notice it within themselves.
“So we have a combination of support for them, but also honesty. It’s very important that they know they are celebrated and appreciated. It is important that they learn how to celebrate and appreciate not only themselves but each other. So we are constantly doing things here that can be applied in the real world.
“I think that helps the whole process be a lot more professional because it’s about more than putting on costumes and going on stage. We ask questions. We put questions to them, and we have them do their own research and develop their own responses. That adds a definite element of professionalism.”
We will talk more about the Children’s Civic Light Opera in Monday’s edition.
But here is what you need to know about the weekend performances of Little Shop of Horrors that includes 4 Culver City actors, Mimi Erlick, 13; Arielle Singer, 12; Aria Haley, 12 and Sarah Lipshy, 12 :
Showtimes: 7:30 tonight and Saturday, and 2 o’clock on Sunday at the Norman J. Pattiz Auditorium on the Hami High campus, 2955 S. Robertson Blvd., near the Santa Monica Freeway on-ramp.
Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 for children 10 and under.
cclo.org or 310.478.5886.
