SCR students staging world premiere

Tom Titus

World premieres are nothing new at South Coast Repertory. Every

second or third production is being bathed in stage lights for the

first time, it seems.

What’s good enough for the pros at the theater’s Segerstrom and

Argyros stages is certainly good enough for the youngsters studying

their craft at SCR’s Young Conservatory.

The Nicholas Studio -- the renovated Second Stage from the old

complex -- was inaugurated with the world premiere of “Orphan Train:

The Lost Children” by Young Conservatory director Laurie Woolery.

This weekend, the conservatory’s Teen Players take their shot with

another world premiere in the Nicholas Studio -- “Florence, David &

Art.”

This play was written by Greg Atkins, a published playwright and a

teacher at SCR’s Theater Conservatory for 15 years. Woolery will be

in the director’s chair for this premiere.

“Florence, David & Art” centers on a group of American students

who spend the summer studying art in Florence, Italy, where

Michelangelo’s “David” is in residence, hence the play’s title.

Like most teenagers, they have their own agendas, with art school

at various degrees of importance. Some are never without their sketch

pads, others would rather shop. And, of course, romance blossoms

among some of the students and their Italian counterparts.

Atkins’ play, set against a background of the great art of

Florence, offers the young people an opportunity to better understand

themselves as they attain different perspectives on art and life.

The Teen Players -- composed of high school students -- is an

ensemble group of serious acting students who are selected by

audition after completing at least two years of Young Conservatory

training. Each member of the Teen Players will have a role on stage

or behind the scenes in “Florence, David & Art.”

Costa Mesa students in the SCR cast are John Hsiang and Carlos

Ibarra. Newport Beach (Jacqueline Legan) and Corona del Mar

(Alexander Scholnick) are also represented in the show.

Others in the cast are Lisa Ackerman, Diana Alvarez, Brittney

Chavez, Kelly Ehlert, Nicole Gross, Dylan Johnson, Nora Mally, Anna

Matthis, Eden Routledge and Elise St. Clair.

Playwright Atkins has directed and performed with improvisational

groups throughout Southern California and is the author of “IMPROV!,”

a popular handbook on improvisational theater, now in its fourth

printing.

He was also a consultant on the ABC comedy show “Whose Line Is It,

Anyway?”

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Thursdays and Saturdays.