Tom Titus
Laguna Beach's No Square Theater plunges into its upcoming season
with a new artistic director and a lineup of shows that will be
refreshingly unfamiliar to most theatergoers.
The new lady in charge is Melissa Verdugo, who has taken the reins
of the community players after stage managing the company's last
production, "Babes in Arms," in July. Her appointment is the
culmination of an active and varied training period in both
administration and production.
"I received my training at the Sacramento Music Circus, a
seven-shows-in-seven-weeks theater-in-the-round summer stock
company," Verdugo said. "I then spent a year as assistant to Susan
Egan, artistic director at the Orange County High School of the Arts
(in Santa Ana)."
This practical experience was followed by a teaching position in
both music and theater and production and design, teaching theater
crafts, elements of stage production, contemporary musical analysis
and stage management. Then came a stint as stage manager of last
year's "Lagunatics" under the tutelage of Bree Burgess Rosen, founder
of the No Square Theater.
Verdugo parlayed the Lagunatics experience into the "Babes in
Arms" gig, also directed by Rosen, during which she was invited to
apply for the No Square artistic director's position -- which she
landed this past July.
"I cannot begin to say how thrilled I am to be taking on this job,
at this company, in this town," Verdugo exclaimed.
Turning to the upcoming No Square season, Verdugo voiced
enthusiastic anticipation about the 2004-05 schedule.
"Our season this year is an exciting mix of shows that, while
possibly unknown to our general audience, will be a treat to all who
see them," she said. "It will range from large casts with guest
artists performing with our locals down to a cast of six. But most
importantly, it's a fun season."
The fun begins Dec. 3 with a one-weekend show called "Beehive" in
the Forum Theater on Laguna's Festival of the Arts grounds. This is a
revue of popular music from the 1960s, with impersonations of artists
ranging from Leslie Gore to Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin.
"These women take you on a journey of growing up in the '60s, from
being a 13-year-old with dreams of being a Shindig dancer (on the
popular TV program of that day) to the shock and despair of President
Kennedy's assassination, the awe of watching Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. lead the civil rights movement, Vietnam, the freedom of Woodstock
and, finally, emerging at the end of the era as a young woman,"
Verdugo noted.
