The Sunnyvale Sun
Community
No summer vacations for Sunnyvale's busy CTC
By HEATHER ZIMMERMAN
Summer is vacation season for most, but the Sunnyvale-based California Theatre Center certainly isn't taking any time off. In June, the company will open its annual Summer Rep and offer summer theater workshops, called theater conservatories, for youth throughout the South Bay.
CTC is a professional company that produces theater for children during the school year. However, its summer repertory season offers fare for an audience that also includes adults.
The CTC Summer Rep gets under way June 1 with the opening of the musical You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. The show will run in repertory through July 23 with two other plays, the comedies The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) and Jane Austen's Emma. All performances take place at the Sunnyvale Community Center Theater, 550 E. Remington Drive, Sunnyvale.
The company considers a number of issues when choosing plays for the CTC Summer Rep, according to CTC general director and founder Gayle Cornelison.
"Since we have a company of resident actors, one factor is finding plays that we can cast well from our company," he says. "Another factor is selecting plays that our artists will enjoy working on. A third factor is finding plays that are suitable for family audiences, as a large percentage of our patrons are."
The company's diverse season offers something to appeal to audience members of all ages. Cornelison says You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, a musical based on Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic strip, can be enjoyed by elementary school children. The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged), a slapstick comedy that takes considerable license with the Bard's works, offers much that teens can appreciate. The company presented the play in 2002 and has brought it back by popular demand.
The Rep's other show, Emma, is a romantic comedy based on Jane Austen's 1816 novel about the matchmaking missteps of a young English society lady. Like its Summer Rep counterparts, the play aims to have broad appeal.
Emma, in particular, highlights a unique symbiotic relationship between the Summer Rep and the company's youth conservatories. This adaptation of Austen's novel, written by CTC member Amy Cornelison, was actually created for one the company's conservatories last summer.
In fact, the youth workshops and the Summer Rep have even more in common than occasionally sharing scripts. CTC's resident artists perform in the Summer Rep plays and also teach the conservatories. Students in the workshops are given free tickets to attend Summer Rep shows and see their teachers perform. This can make the Summer Rep shows into a teaching tool because teachers can later discuss the performances with their students.
Conservatories offer a full day of drama instruction for youth ages 8 and up, with classes in acting, movement, improvisation, voice and more, culminating in a production at the end of the session. Each student works on every element of the play, from acting to creating everything behind the scenes. Classes are held in the morning, with rehearsal, set building and costume work taking place in the afternoon. Students also design the props, programs and tickets.
One of the most important aspects of the conservatory program is that it stresses working together in ensembles, says Rick Haffner, CTC's marketing director, and an actor who has also taught conservatory classes.
"Another strength of this program is that it really can satisfy children who either have no experience or are pretty experienced because they're really learning about every aspect of the theater," Haffner says. "It's not something where the parents do all the designing and costumes, and everything. The kids really learn, and it's really on whatever level their abilities are."
As professional actors, CTC company members each bring their own talents to teaching conservatories, but they also receive training in a curriculum Haffner says strives to highlight each child's strengths.
"It's just a very positive, supportive atmosphere," he says. "We really try to inspire the kids to be as creative as possible."
CTC has been offering summer conservatories for youth since 1983. This year, sessions will be held in Sunnyvale, Saratoga, Los Altos and San Jose. The company also offers a junior conservatory for ages 6-8, as well as intermediate and advanced programs.
Single tickets for Summer Rep shows are $18-$25 (season packages are $40-$65). For tickets, call 408.720.0873. Conservatory tuition is $730 for a full day/$310 junior conservatory. For more information, call 408.245.2979 or visit www.ctctinc.org.
