Laguna Blanca Performing Arts Partners with Ensemble Theatre Company

Ensemble Theatre's professional scenic, lighting, sound, and costume designers will work directly with Laguna students, who will function like technical theatre interns. During the pilot year of the program, students will work with ETC's Production Manager and designers on two Spaulding Theatre Productions and bring LBS students to ETC's theatre the New Vic for tours, productions, and Q&As with company members and technicians.

This will be ETC's first ever partnership with a Santa Barbara school, giving Laguna Blanca's students unrivaled insight into the world of theatre making. This program will be spearheaded by Laguna Blanca's Theatre Director and Instructor Dana Caldwell and ETC's Production Manager Richard "RC" Croy, both of whom are thrilled to bring the world of professional theatre to Laguna Blanca students.

The goal of this partnership is to provide Laguna Blanca theatre students with the foundational knowledge and skills they need to pursue further education or a career in technical theatre, while elevating the quality of Laguna's productions for aspiring young actors.

Laguna's first show of the season will be Neil Simon's Rumors in January, followed by Laguna’s spring musical—both productions reaching far and wide into our Laguna Blanca community and beyond. "The quality of Laguna productions in partnership with ETC will not only raise the bar for our current students and audiences, but will also serve as a magnet to those students in Santa Barbara who wish to more seriously pursue the performing arts," explains Caldwell.

ETC, which became an Equity theatre in 1989, is Santa Barbara’s sole professional theatre company. The company, which presents five or six plays per season, has produced several American and West Coast premieres and garnered numerous awards.