The Theatre Guild, Southeast Civic Light Opera and the Childrens’ Repertory Company have recently partnered with the Cultural Alliance of Long Beach, and are setting up shop in the Bungalow Art Center. The Guild has been active for nearly 20 years, providing children, adults, and seniors with training and performance experience.
All three entities evolved from early efforts by Jeff Hathcock to provide theater programs through the City of Lakewood Parks and Recreation Department. With his wife, Nancy Wylie Hathcock, who has a Masters in Theater Arts from CSULB, and their daughter Allyson, they’ve continually expanded the scope and scale of their programs.
“Jeff found that there were children who just didn’t fit into the sports agenda of most schools,” Nancy explained. “Our own daughter was an example of that! So, he began building a children’s theater in a dance studio and kept growing.”
Parents of the participants found the programs to be so enticing that, before too long, an adult program was formed. Still, the group did not have a permanent home.
“Until 2002, we were like gypsies, moving from school to school wherever the district had room for us to rehearse and perform. We were fortunate to be approved by the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base to operate out of their movie and general assembly theater. The theater was named ‘The Liberty Theater,’ and we called it home until the 1st of this year. The military needed the theater vacated in order to take care of major repairs.”
Although The Guild receives some fiscal support from grants and donations, it is primarily funded through fees paid by the participants. The group works with approximately 200 people each year, producing five or six shows, in addition to a summertime Childrens’ Theater Camp, which is run by Allyson. The youth programs serve kids from 7 to 17.
“First of all, any child that is in one of our shows will have a speaking role,” Nancy said. “We double cast when we have more children auditioning than parts available. We believe that every child needs their spotlight on stage, figuratively speaking. During rehearsals, we use improv to help them think on their feet, teach stage diction, voice projection, stage movement, and character development. We also, if the show calls for it, teach them how to sing and dance.
“The adult program does not charge a tuition. We ask that they help us with selling tickets for the shows. Most of the adults have had some stage experience, so the rehearsals are more into developing their characters, and learning the music and choreography, if called for.”
A variety of scholarships and payment plans are available for families who have difficulty paying the tuition.
“We work with each parent on an individual basis. We have payment programs and we provide scholarships for children with a financial hardship. We do expect them to help us with the sale of tickets, costumes, set building etc. By the way, we automatically scholarship children of active military personnel.”
Nancy discovered that Senior Theater is the fastest growing segment of the theater world.
“We have a lot of fun both practicing and performing at various senior communities,” Nancy admitted. “It’s such a healthy way to keep active, both mentally and physically. As a member of the American Society on Aging, I know it’s important to keep our seniors thriving.
“I started our Senior Theater program last year, and this is its third session, now. Each session lasts eight weeks and costs just $55. It is great helping people of a ‘certain age’ and, being around my peers, we feel stronger and are having a blast!”
The senior program does not rely on scripted material, instead focusing on improvisation, props, and word prompts.
“We may get a prompt that says England, horror, Victorian. We will then have to improv a British horror skit set in the Victorian period. This challenges our minds to create something from nothing, and that is something that is far more exciting to do than just create a character from a script.”
Nancy has found that, sometimes, seniors are more open to improvisation than kids.
“Some kids, I have found, find it very difficult to ‘play’ basic scenarios like cops and robbers, or even space aliens! They just don’t ‘play’ in real life, as they’re always on their electronic gadgets. In our summer camp this last summer, I gave some kids the simple task of acting out a western scenario such as cowboy meets cowgirl, whose ranch is being taken away by the evil Black Bart. I said ‘action.’ They looked at me like I was from outer space! Then they began pulling out their cellphones and fake calling each other, and threatening each other over their phones. I said, ‘Cut! They didn’t have cell phones in the old west.’ They don’t know their history, and they don’t know how to interact without some kind of electronic thing in their hand.”
The summer camp program is quite rigorous, with six hours of training every weekday.
“During the first three hours, the kids rehearse the show. It’s always a musical, so they may do some acting, then spend the rest of the time learning their singing and dancing. After our half hour lunch, they learn ballroom dancing, improv, set design, and lighting. They have homework assignments where they are to watch an older actor or actress in a film and write a review of their performance. A few years ago I had a little girl who had never seen ‘I Love Lucy’ and so I asked her to watch an episode. She came in the next day and said, ‘you know, that’s a funny show! That Lucy Ball was pretty good.’
“On the last day of camp, we have a ball. The kids perform one act plays they’ve written, based on fairy tales, and we give a prize for the best show. Then, we have lunch. Following that, the kids all dress up in formal attire and we have our ball dance. They dance the salsa, cha cha, tango, Charleston, waltz, Viennese waltz, and swing. We gives prizes for each type of dance, which motivates the kids. In fact, several of them have used their new dance moves at their school dances and two fellows, in particular, were able to score dates because of their ‘cha cha’ moves!”
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To learn more about the Guild’s programs and performances, visit SECLO.org, or their new website, TheBungalowPlayers.com.
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