Break a leg

Andrew Wainer

This fall, students at Fountain Valley’s Gisler Elementary School will be

treated to much more than the run-of-the-mill school play.

With the help of local theater owner Cindy Hogan, fifth-graders are

launching their own theater production company, complete with finance and

media teams, deadlines and a rigorous training schedule.

The Lightning Liebelt Production Company -- named after teacher Lynn

Liebelt -- is being organized by Hogan to give students a deeper

experience and enjoyment of theater beyond that of just memorizing one’s

lines. Students will be put in charge of organizing publicity, staging

and production, much like Hogan’s own local nonprofit Raven West Theater

troupe.

“I want to teach students how a professional theater is run,” Hogan said.

“The kids will be divided into different teams, including organizing

fund-raising and a media blitz for the play.”

Hogan says the focus on acting in traditional school plays can turn off

some students who are stage shy.

“A kid who is shy and doesn’t want to act can be a great producer,” she

says. “We try to tap into the various strengths of the students instead

of forcing them on stage and giving them a traumatic experience with the

theater.”

Liebelt said the production is not only wildly popular with her students

but provides them with opportunities to build self-confidence,

independence and enhance reading skills.

“Kids at this age need a lot of opportunities to assert their authority

and build responsibilities,” Leibelt said. “The school’s younger students

will love watching the play, and that will be encouraging to the

fifth-graders who will get even more excited about the project, due to

the positive response they receive.”

For Hogan, the time she devotes to organizing and training the class for

the production is a labor of love, and a family tradition.

“I have always gone into my children’s classes to read stories as a way

of being more involved in my kid’s life,” Hogan said. She added that she

is following in the footsteps of her mother, who was a children’s book

writer and helped organize the library at Hogan’s school when she was a

student.

The production, “Care and Feeding of a Dragon,” also has students in

Leibelt’s class enthusiastic.

“It is great to work together with the whole class on a project,”

10-year-old Garrett Curtner said. Nico Hartwell, 10, said the play is

influencing her to pursue acting professionally.

Hogan said she also hopes to present the play outside the school and do

community outreach in senior centers and other venues in order to spread

the joys of children’s theater to a wider audience. A kids improv group

in schools is also in the works, she said.

The play is scheduled for November. For further information call the

Robert Gisler School at (714) 378-4211.