From the Creative Team:
Sunset Theatre Company is ecstatic to be presenting its 14th production at El Camino College. We are extremely thankful to be able to work with the wonderful children that make up our company. The energy and enthusiasm that shines from each of their faces on stage is what makes what we do so rewarding. From our oldest veteran to our youngest newcomer, Sunset strives to create a family based on trust, friendship, collaboration, respect, laughter and love. We pride ourselves in being different from other children's theatre companies. We insist on being innovative in the opportunities we offer our students, to continue to offer them cutting edge theatrical education and to offer them professional training. We are proud to say that every teacher that works for Sunset (Michigan and California) has a bachelors degree in their field and/or a masters degree. Whether its voice, acting, or dance, your child is working with a professional. Sunset Theatre Company staff, along with being top educators in their fields are also professional artists. Our teachers continue to work in their fields as performers, thus allowing them to continue to grow and pass their knowledge on to your children. Our heart, soul and love for the theater goes into every production we work on. We hope you see our passion, education and spirit, instilled in the performances on stage today.
Our Comprehensive Performance Company and Musical Theatre Workshop B students, went on another field trip this semester to see the national tour of Cinderella at Segerstrom. By doing these field trips our students are developing their aesthetic valuing, recognizing quality and able to speak about what they like or dislike about a performance. They are able to notice the precision of choreography, character, harmony, costumes, lighting, and the importance of an ensemble and how all these elements need to be the very best it can. We value supporting the arts and instilling this value in our students is important to us. We will continue to offer our students as many opportunities as possible to succeed and look forward to our next field trip in fall/winter.
The Drowsy Chaperone has taken us on a creative journey into the comedic world. Pushing the cast to go bigger and more specific was really forcing them outside their comfort zone. The man in the chair gives us many clues to how each of the characters are played and its the job of the actors to take it to that level. Adding big, archtypes and stereotyped characterization just creates an actor with a stronger arsenal of skills. While we as the audience may relate to some of these big characters on a personal level, the one we relate closest to is the man in the chair. He is the everyman, saying things we've all likely said at some point. He informs us of his state of "blue" and what he likes to do to get out of it. We all have that special thing we do when we are a bit sad that we use to cheer us up. We hope as you watch the show that you join him in stepping away from the everyday life and escape into the ridiculous, comedic world of The Drowsy Chaperone.
We are ever thankful for the opportunity you give us to work with your children. Being able to contribute to their growth as performers and watching them rise to all challenges is truly why we do what we do. If you are watching the show today and are inspired to get on stage, we hope to see you walk through our studio doors!
This show could not happen without a special thanks to: Bridget Gerson, Melanie West, Chris Alexiades, Angela Desimone, Tom Bacon, Amanda Hill, Nancy Adler, Bryan Bates, Andy Wolski, Kevin Perez and Annie Marin.
