Most parents dread the day that their child announces his or her
intentions of becoming a professional actor, instead wishing that
he or she would pick a future in a more sensible or stable
career.
Yet some UCLA students have found a way to satisfy their
parents’ expectations or their own professional goals while
still finding the time to pursue theater as a side hobby by taking
workshops or participating in school performance groups.
Courtney Cheney, a third-year communication studies student,
attended a prestigious performing arts high school and always
intended on continuing her musical theater training through
college.
Just prior to entering UCLA, she realized that she wanted to
expand her course of study and decided to leave the UCLA School of
Theater, Film, and Television for the general UCLA College.
“I’ve been doing musical theater my whole
life,” Cheney said. “I just felt like if I decided I
wanted to do musical theater as a career, I wouldn’t really
need a degree to do it.”
But Cheney didn’t abandon theater altogether.
She discovered UCLA’s musical theater workshop program
after talking with a friend and seeing a Daily Bruin advertisement
for it in fall 2003.
“When I found out about the theater workshop, that
supported my decision to major in something else, but still do
musical theater at UCLA,” Cheney said. “It was just a
great experience, and a lot of fun to get class credit for doing
something I love to do.”
The musical theater workshop is offered for class credit to all
majors every quarter at UCLA and often culminates in a production.
Cheney played the role of Anybodys in their winter 2004 production
of “West Side Story.”
“It’s a good opportunity because at a lot of big
colleges, if you’re not a theater major, you don’t have
a chance to perform at all,” Cheney said. “It’s
really sweet that we have the musical theater workshops set up so
that we still have an opportunity to perform.”
Not everyone is cut out for musical theater, and many dread
going through a nerve-racking audition process.
UCLA’s Shakespeare Reading and Performance Group allows
any interested students to participate in their innovative
performances of Shakespeare’s works. Each year, UCLA
Shakespeare also produces a full-length Shakespeare play.
“The programs are designed to promote students’
interest in Shakespeare, and present an open forum for showcasing
his works,” said fourth-year theater student Samara
Weiss.
UCLA’s theater opportunities are not limited to acting
alone. The theater group Lapu, the Coyote that Cares allows
students to contribute to its productions through writing, acting
or producing. They produce an original show every quarter with free
admission.
“We have four or five short scenes every quarter that are
rehearsed, fully costumed, directed,” said second-year
undeclared student Leiti Hsu.
“Then we have our improv games, which we place between
some of the scenes to break it up, so that it becomes sort of like
a variety show.”
Hsu became involved with Lapu in fall 2004 with very minimal
theater experience, but with a desire to branch out and try
something new.
She always loved expressing herself in front of an audience, and
found the opportunity to expand her versatility in the craft with
Lapu.
“You end up learning a lot of different skills, and become
specialized depending on what you enjoy the most,” Hsu
said.
“At first I was surprised that they chose me, because
I’m not as artsy or as much of a theater person as some of
the other members. But I am really outgoing. I love performing and
I’m really expressive. I kept with it, and by the end, I was
able to apply my strengths to the theater group in a producing
capacity. I have really found what I’m best at with the
theater group.”
Although Lapu has received substantial support from Asian
American groups on campus, it does not limit its membership to
Asian American students. In fact, next year the group plans on
diversifying its cast to a greater extent.
“With a more diverse cast, we can learn from each
other,” Hsu said. “I think that to have a purely Asian
American cast would be very narrow-minded.”
Regardless of which organization they join, theater lovers
relish the opportunity to occasionally perform in the midst of
their academic studies.
“We put so much effort into our shows, from the writing to
the production,” Hsu said. “It makes it really worth it
for our audience members to see the show. It’s very
encouraging. That’s what keeps me in this group.”