About Southern California Lyric Theater
Our Mission is to Enlighten, Educate and Foster Appreciation for Excellence in Musical Theater in the LA Community by:
- Nurturing a love for classical music theater in young people and their families and thereby building the opera audience of the future
- Providing professionally produced, creatively staged performances of Classical Theater, Opera, Operetta, and Musical Theater
- Casting highly talented, seasoned professional actors and singers, supplemented by apprentices such as members of the Alison Kalmus Youth Repertory Theater (AKT)
- Providing training and mentoring for apprentice directors, producers, conductors, set designers and costumers in the business and artistic challenges of theater
- Mainstreaming special needs students from AKT into all aspects of SCLT, including education, production and performance
Southern California Lyric Theater fulfills its educational mission through weekly youth workshops as well as the rehearsal and performance of mainstage productions. Students are trained in acting technique, music theory, vocal production and technical theater. They also participate in professional classical and musical theater. SCLT apprentices are youth from AKT workshops.
History
In 2005 SCLT, a 501(c)3 nonprofit arts and education corporation, was created with the help and advice of local arts activists, educators, business and community leaders. Our first production, “Fairytales and Fantasy”, a concert performed in Memorial Park was an instant intergenerational hit. Our second production, “The Sound of Music,” with Sierra Madre Playhouse, in December 2005, sold out to cheering audiences and received universal critical raves.
Since then, SCLT has expanded into a annual professional Shakespeare in the Park, a "BBC Radio 1941 Theater" enactment, and the continuing "Fairytales & Fantasy" Concerts. SCLT's "A Christmas Carol Story", produced at the Sierra Madre Playhouse since 2001, has become a holiday favorite, winning numerous theatrical awards.