In theater, when a production is good, it tends to enjoy a long run. Think Cats, or Les Miserables. The same can be said for PCPA’s Young People’s Project (YPP). The project, which began in the 1980s, is still going strong, and staff at the conservatory are getting ready for the latest crop of thespians to arrive this summer.
YPP introduces students ages 13 through 18 to the three disciplines in theater—singing, dancing, and acting—in a one-week intensive. The program gives a hands-on sense of what it’s like to have a stage career. Eight days fill with opportunities to see two plays, have dinner with PCPA staff, and perform a showcase. Each day, the students log a full day of work, which PCPA Outreach Director Leo Cortez called, with a chuckle, “a true understanding of what it takes to be a professional in theater.”
Such professionals put in very long days that often exceed eight to 10 hours. However, many theater hopefuls get glitter in their eyes and are attracted to the more glamorous aspects of the craft. Fortunately, many of the students in the YPP program are already familiar with the hard work it takes. Cortez said many of them come from participating in drama departments at their high schools.
“They come here to learn more about what’s involved, and they take it back to school in the fall,” he said. “Some have agents, some are modeling, and they use our program to help strengthen their abilities.”
At the core of the program are those aforementioned three disciplines. The students are expected to learn two songs—one choral to learn melody and harmony, and the other to be sung in tandem with choreography to learn how to sing and dance at the same time.
Their study of acting helps them understand delivery, focus, and improvisation, as well as moments of emotion and how to articulate that emotion into words and perform it.
But the program doesn’t include a scripted play. Instead, the showcase is a series of highlights from material the students learned over the week. The performance does include the two components planned from the start: the choral and the dance song, because everyone is involved in those.
“A scripted play means there are leading roles and supporting roles, and if there are roles, there are auditions,” Cortez explained. “We want to develop their skills equally; we have no stars here, no auditions here.”
However, recognizing that auditions are a huge part of theater, the program does feature a workshop on those ubiquitous events.
The program also reaches out to younger students who might have never been introduced to the theater. After the initial success of the YPP program in the early ’80s, PCPA took on a program for younger students. Originally started by a former student and held at the Discovery Museum, YPP Jr.—at the time called Fantasy Theatre—was successful at the start. The organizer of that program was going off to college and asked PCPA to continue it. PCPA leaders did, but after a couple of years, they decided to make it a little more intensive and adopted it as their own.
YPP Jr. is for ages 7 to 12 and is similar to the regular program, only the days are shorter, the program runs seven days instead of eight, and the students see one play instead of two. The students’ experience levels are mixed, with the returning students often acting as mentors to the beginners, Cortez said.
What both programs have in common is the amount of information covered in such a short amount of time.
“The most amazing thing is that parents will comment, ‘I can’t believe you did this much in seven days,’” Cortez said.
Cortez said YPP Jr. gives students an idea of what theater is like, but it also introduces the parents to the world. He said he often hears parents say their son or daughter is always singing or making up stories and acting them out, and so they want to try introducing them to theater.
“We say, ‘Bring them over and try it out,’” Cortez said.
Most of the time, the kids like it. But there have been a few dropouts. Either way, the sessions give children the opportunity to find out how much they really like being involved in theatre.
Both programs use teachers from all over the country—many of them PCPA alumni—to teach the classes. Cortez said he looks for instructors year-round. With so much preparation that goes into the programs and all the effort the students put into it, Cortez said it’s nothing like summer daycare. Fortunately, the students who have been involved all these years are serious about their craft.
“Some former students of the program have graduated from high school, and some have gone on to participate in the PCPA program and others have matriculated into other college theater programs with a strong understanding of what is involved in theater,” Cortez said.
He added that the most rewarding part of the program is watching the parents in turn watch their sons or daughters emerge after a week of study. But he also enjoys the lesson students learn: that there is a real career in theater, apart from Hollywood and all the glamour.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone can sing and type at the same time. Contact her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 2-9, 2011.