Instructor inspires youths in production of stage musical ‘Fame’

By Max Sutton-Smolin

Judy Mora performs in rehearsals for an ACT (Actors' Conservatory Theatre) San Diego production of “Fame.”

In some ways, the youth players involved in ACT San Diego’s production of “Fame” are playing themselves.
The Actors’ Conservatory Theatre of San Diego’s production of the stage musical “Fame,” a story of different people trying to make it big singing, acting or dancing at a performing arts school in New York City, includes actors from all over San Diego County, ranging in age from 7 to 21. The musical will run from Jan. 22-Jan. 31 at the Joan B. Kroc Theatre.
“It follows five main characters, either their singing career, acting career or dancing career, their struggles, their family, their friends, whether or not they have talent,” said assistant stage manager Amanda Gustafson, 21. “There’s a lot of singing and dancing.”
“Fame” director Leigh “Miss Leigh” (pronounced “Lee”) Scarritt, who is also artistic director of the company, chose this play, in part, because it is a “perfect vehicle” to “showcase these wonderfully, brilliantly talented young people,” she said.
Another reason is that the “Fame” movie just came out, so it was smart from a marketability perspective, Scarritt said.
“We thought this was the one the kids had all talked about,” said Beth Mercer, 53, producer of “Fame” and member of the ACT board of directors. “It covered a big age group. The movie had just come out when we decided.”
Many of the student actors attend or attended school in the San Dieguito High School District.
Scarritt likes to choose shows based on how good they are for her students, and because she thinks they deserve to play the parts, she said.
“[‘Fame’] is what we stand for: It’s about every individual performer’s journey and story, but it is the group effort that makes it,” Scarritt said. “You can’t have a production without everybody.”
Rehearsals began in October. The cast now has four rehearsals a week from 6-9 p.m. at Waxie Sanitary Supply off of Kearny Villa Road and Culture Shock Studio in Old Town.
Scarritt offers her actors “everything from life lessons to unbelievable acting and singing,” Mercer said.
Many “Fame” actors are personal clients of Scarritt, and many cited ACT’s production of the musical “Rent” this past summer as a reason for taking part in this play.
Kelli Colarusso, 14, one of Scarritt’s personal clients attends La Jolla High School. She learned much from being in “Rent” about “how to get in character and form a story,” and chose to do “Fame” because she wanted to learn more, she said.
“I primarily wanted to be in the show because this is what I love to do,” Colarusso said. “There’s nothing else I’d rather do.”
The actors are “seasoned performers,” Scarritt said—the cast contains several choreographers and musicians, and some of the girls are a capella band members.
“We have three actors who take a bus, a trolley, and a cab to get to rehearsal,” Scarritt said. “I think that’s remarkable. I think they need to be celebrated just for that.”
Marc Akiyama, 16, of Mira Mesa High School, and Anthony Rodriguez, 16, of Cathedral Catholic High School play music for “Fame” and are also cast as musicians for the play.
“It’s cool because I get to do acting and my true love, which is playing music,” Rodriguez said.
Spencer Meredith, 18, who attends Mira Costa College, has been a Michael Jackson impersonator since he was 2 years old, which somehow led to theater, he said. This is his first ACT San Diego show.
“ACT is the most professional and difficult company that I have worked with,” Meredith said.
Scarritt’s method of directing during rehearsals involves focusing on the process of the individual actor instead of the product, she said.
“I don’t necessarily cast what would be best for the show but what I see is best for them, and it ultimately ends up being right,” Scarritt said.
This casting technique afforded Matt Maretz, 18, of Canyon Crest Academy, the opportunity he had wanted to play outside of stereotypes. The role he is playing for “Fame” is very different from the role he just played in “Rent,” he said.
“Miss Leigh gave me that opportunity, and it was a huge challenge, but I think I’m doing a good job taking it on,” Maretz said.
Peter Hoban, 18, has been working with Scarritt for about a year now, and called it “the best choice theatrically” he has ever made. Hoban attends Canyon Crest Academy.
“This is not about being better than someone else or another company,” Scarritt said. “It’s just about us achieving our own personal excellence. That’s what we’re responsible for.”
This and other ACT shows cost about $30,000 total to run, Scarritt said. ACT is a nonprofit organization self-sustained on individual donations, ticket sales and a $325 tuition per actor per show, Mercer said.
Funding shows through tuition is called a “pay-to-play,” which means the actors “pay for the educational process of being in this and being able to put this on their resume,” Scarritt said.
The point of the “pay-to-play” method and Scarritt’s focus on the individual process is to make sure that the actors can take what they learn at ATC to any other theatrical company, she said.
“All of these actors work in other environments, and I want them to,” Scarritt said. “I think it’s smart. And I’m privileged to prepare them so they will succeed wherever they go.”
In other theater companies, Scarritt said, the actors are pitted against each other and rivalry sometimes undermines their performances.
“The industry is based on external assessment,” making it an inherently competitive business, Scarritt said. But she emphasizes the personal responsibility each actor has for the well-being of his craft.
“For me, it is the meaning behind the show, which is ‘be you and your own excellence will come from that,’ whether that’s performing or just being a good person,” Hoban said.
“They come to me talented, and I just have the privilege of getting their psychology aligned with their spirit and their talent,” Scarritt said. “And that is a successful actor.”
For more information, visit http://www.actsandiego.com/index.htm.