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CSUN’s Teenage Drama Workshop is Prepared for 52nd Season

In less than two weeks, the curtain rises on the 52nd season of one of the longest running programs of its kind in the nation—Cal State Northridge’s Teenage Drama Workshop (TADW).

TADW students on set of THE WIZ - (bottom left - Rachel Weissler, Amanda Muniz, Jim Lopez, Haley Perkins; Top left - Joey Veliz, Haylee-rae Averill, Bobby Lebeda, Wesley Rodriguez)

For the past few weeks, nearly 70 teenagers have been immersed in the day-to-day reality of a professional theater troupe—from designing lighting, costumes and sets to learning lines and choreography. Their hard work will pay off the evening of July 17, with the opening night of “The Wiz” in the Campus Theatre, which will be followed the evening of July 22 with the opening of “Pinocchio” in the Little Theatre.

“We feel like this is one of our strongest summers ever, with an amazingly talented group of young people working very vigorously to bring these shows to performance in just three short weeks of rehearsal,” said TADW Executive Director Doug Kaback.

The workshop is open to students entering grades 7-12. The teenagers attend classes that focus on acting, voice and dance, and can choose electives in improvisation, musical theater and playwriting. A “10-Minute Play Festival,” scheduled for July 30 in the Studio Theatre, exemplifies the integrated nature of the program, where students in the playwriting and improvisation electives collaborate to bring an idea from “page to stage” in six short weeks.

Lindsey Kazan, Matt Fairlee, Kailey Short - THE WIZ, TADW 2009

This summer, for the first time, the workshop is offering a separate, technical track for those students who are not interested in performing. These students receive intensive training in set design, lighting and costumes.

“This is a very intensive conservatory, with classes in the morning and rehearsals in the afternoon,” Kaback said. “Our students are working with professional designers and directors. It is one of the premier experiences I think a young person can get in the performing arts.”

The productions, which are about 75 minutes long, are geared toward families and regularly draw audiences from local summer camps.

“Each performance has full costumes, lighting and sets,” Kaback said. “We really try to make it a wonderful visual experience.”

Tickets for the performances are available at the Associated Students Ticket Office, (818) 677-2488. For more information about TADW, call (818) 677-5811, e-mail tadw@csun.edu or visit its Web site at www.csun.edu/tadw.