'Footloose' Shows How Far Laguna Beach High's Theater Department Has Come

In the Laguna Beach High School Artist’s Theatre, three students are rehearsing harmonies. Curling irons are flying from hand to hand in the dressing room. Kids are making last-minute costume adjustments before gathering in a back room for their cast circle, where cast members offer inspiring words and get pumped up.

It’s opening night for the spring musical. And this year, it’s Footloose.

A show like this is no small feat, with 18 scene changes, countless costume changes, and complex choreography sometimes involving 30-40 kids singing and dancing at once.

Take the number of people involved in this production alone. LBHS drama teacher/director Mark Dressler—who also teaches drama at Thurston Middle School—says, for this show, it literally takes a small village to pull it off. Footloose has about 50 cast members; 12 crew members; 15 members of the orchestra who play live; eight to 10 ushers from Thurston Middle School’s drama program; a lighting director; professional choreographer; stage manager; ROP students who make T-shirts; and parent volunteers who design programs, sell tickets and sew costumes.

“Right now I probably rehearse four or five hours after school each day,” says Sawyer Pierce, a senior who plays the lead role of Ren in Footloose. He plans to pursue a bachelor of fine arts in acting and is waiting to hear from schools like Carnegie-Mellon and New York University. “I enjoy it because the whole community turns out for these shows.”

For sophomore Makenna Zur Schmiede, who plays the role of Wendy Jo, it’s a marathon each day. The last two weeks, one of her days might consist of school, then community service with the Juntos tutoring program, then chorus practice, then 30 minutes to eat, then rehearsal from 5:30 to 10 p.m. at night. Somewhere in there, homework gets done.

“Most of the kids in drama are usually doing a thousand other things,” she said.

When they graduate, it’s often not the last time Dressler sees them. His co-director is LBHS alum Amanda Saunders, who went to Princeton, studied at the American Conservatory Theatre, got her master's and returned to her hometown to help direct the shows. His current stage manager was recently accepted to a prestigious London school to study stage management. Clearly, these are experiences the students build on for the rest of their lives.

“I am amazed by the multiple talents our kids possess,” said Principal Don Austin. “We have actors and dancers who also compete on athletic teams, earn incredible grade-point averages, set the standard on college admissions tests, and work in several hundred hours of community service.”

It wasn’t always like this. When Dressler took over the program in 1992, the school hadn’t done a show in 10 years. The theater building could have been condemned, he says, with tiles falling and mold infestation. When he decided to do Grease as his first musical, a whopping two people showed up to audition, and Dressler walked around campus begging kids to be in it.

But today, thanks to a bond voted on by Laguna residents, the Artist’s Theatre is a state-of-the-art facility. And as far as auditions go, for Footloose, about 100 kids auditioned. In a school of about 1,000 students, that’s 10 percent of the school population vying for a role.

“I think [at Laguna] it’s different from other schools,” Zur Schmiede said. “Here it’s hard for us to grasp the fact that drama kids are made fun of somewhere else.”

That’s because the community usually turns out in droves to see the shows; even out-of-towners make it an annual event. It’s proof that performing arts is flourishing in a town that was, after all, founded by artists. This writer has even bumped into a Ms. Annette Bening at one of the shows.

Dressler’s not finished yet.

“Now that there is no woodshop and metalshop, this is what I’d love to do,” he said. “Build a program where students could gain skills in trades like computer and video production, scene building, technical theatre, lighting and design. Because there’s a certain kind of kid where academics is not their deal, but they like to build things,” he adds.

Dressler—who is also helping other newer high schools like JSerra build their performing arts programs—knows that through almost 20 years and hundreds of shows, his students are learning to work together, take direction, be creative, make a commitment, and use higher-level thinking skills.

“They learn about the relationship of hard work and the reward of making a beautiful piece of art,” Dressler said.

Passionate students offering hours of sacrifice toward a common goal, working hard in school to achieve something spectacular. Maybe, in some way, this is the real Laguna Beach?

Footloose at the Artist’s Theatre, 625 Park Ave. Remaining showtimes: March 17-19 and 24-26, 7:30 p.m.; March 20 and 27, 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are $20 premium reserved seats, $15 general reserved/adults, $12 students/seniors. Tickets may also be purchased at the theatre ticket office prior to the show. To reach the box office, call 949-497-7769.