Hollywood Mom Blog

Triple Threat Summer: 33 Los Angeles Camps, Classes & Workshops for Acting, Singing & Dancing

Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by Editor Tracy Bobbitt.

Originally I created this post when a close friend asked for a few acting and film camp suggestions in the Los Angeles area and Southern California region in general.  I suggested a few I was familiar with and posted for the readership.  It’s obviously time to expound on that list because Los Angeles County is an expansive area offering a variety of camps to suit every taste and the requests keep coming for more camp options.

If you have a suggestion for this list, contact the Hollywood Mom via our contact form with the contact name, address and telephone number. This post will soon live as a page of it’s own, like our AGENTS and LINKS lists.

♥ Notates schools we are personally familiar with and which have the Hollywood Mom Blog stamp of approval !

*I’m not personally familiar with many of these programs and therefore can not endorse them.  For further information please check with one of the many camp accreditation sites.

1. American Academy of Dramatic Arts Los Angeles campus and New York campus): 1336 North La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles (800) 222-2867. Download the summer camp application and brochure here.
2. Agoura Children’s Theater 2 plays this summer, one in July the other in August. Call 818-225-1459
   
3. Agoura Hills Dance and Performing Arts presents Janet Adderley’s Musical Theater Camp: 5015 Cornell Road, Agoura Hills, 91301 (805) 889-3680.
4. AIA Actor’s Studio: 1918 W. Magnolia Blvd., Suite 206, Burbank (818) 566-1429
5. Atlantic Acting School for Kids: (646) 216-1171
6. Center Stage Theater Camp: 615 Holmby Ave. LA, 90024; telephone: (310)842-8040, ext. 137
   
7. Children’s Civic Light Opera Summer Theatre Work: 10858 Culver Blvd., Culver City (310) 478-5886
8. Chamberlain’s Performing and Fine Arts Camp: 5699 Kanan Rd. #610, Agoura Hills (818) 735-9464
9. Children’s Civic Light Opera (CCLO), the Westside’s premier performing arts program for youth 8-18 since 1987!  All skill levels embraced!  SUMMER PRODUCTION: Once Upon A Mattress Email: CCLO@verizon.net (310) 478 – 5886
10. Community Musical Theatre Day Camp: 11301 Bellagio Rd., Los Angeles (323) 954-7250
11. CRE Kids Summer Theatre Camp at Dolly Saken School of the Arts: 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills (323) 944-0511
12. Dance Dimensions Musical Theater Camp: Promenade Mall,  6100 Topanga Cyn Blvd., Woodland Hills, 91367, (818) 999-3262
13. Dance Factory 28901 S Western Ave Ste. 113, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (310) 519-3600
14. Discovery Onstage Summer Acting Camp: Centre Stage Dance Academy, 127 East Olive Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016  Phone: 626.357.8308
    
15. Edgemar Center for the Arts/The Larry Moss Studio: 2437 Main Street, Santa Monica (310) 399-3666
16. ♥Elizabeth Bauman Monologue Workshop for professional actors West Hollywood, (323) 385-5237
17. Eye Dreams Arts: 135 N. Marengo Ave., Pasadena (626) 698-1092
18. Global Groove Cultural Adventure Camp: Westside Waldorf McComb Campus, 17310 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades (310) 402-8138
19. International City Theatre: Bixby Park, 130 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach (562) 436-4610
20. Kids Muse Art Camp, UCLA’s Fowler Museum, Sunset Boulevard at Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095  (310) 825-4361
21. ♥Kids on Stage: Santa Monica, Culver City, Mar Vista (310) 314-0035 Perfect intro for very young kids and beginners 3 to 6 years.
    
22. La Brea Barnstormers Theatre Day Camp: 520 North La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles (323) 939-9220
23. ♥Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute Young Actors at Strasberg is an intensive and diverse course for serious young actors ages 7 to 18 years. 7936 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90046; 323.650.7777; losangeles@strasberg.com
    
24. Los Angeles Shakespeare Company: 1909 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga (310) 455-9400
25. Music Rhapsody:1603 Aviation Blvd., Redondo Beach (310) 376-8646
26. Performing Arts Workshops Education: 13428 Maxella Avenue, Ste. 436, Marina Del Rey, CA 90242;  Phone: (310) 827.8827
27. The Rage Entertainment Complex: 16911 Devonshire St., Granada Hills (818) 366-6100
28. Santa Monica Playhouse: 1211 4th Street, Santa Monica (310) 394-9779
29. Stage Time Los Angeles: Lyric Hyperion Theater Café in Silver Lake, 2106 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027  1-800-530-9524
30. Teenage Drama Workshop at California State University Northridge : (818) 677-5811
31. TVI Actors Studio, Los Angeles and New York: (323) 599-1900
32. ♥Valley West Actors Space Run by actress & Hollywood Mom Sara Wood, located at 22743 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91364, 818-222-7484, valleyactors@gmail.com
33. 3-2-1 Talent Showcase Owner/Director Mae Ross, located at 3131 Foothill Blvd. La Crescenta CA 91214 (818) 353-5455

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CAMP: March 1 Auditions for Deborah Gibson’s Electric Youth!

Posted on 08. Feb, 2009 by Hollywood Mom.

Deborah Gibson’s Electric Youth has announced March 1, auditions for its second annual two-week “Summer Camp” in Hollywood, California from July 6 – 17, 2009, open to serious performers only, ages 10 – 20. Electric Youth will also consider younger students on a case-by-case basis depending on their professionalism and attention span.

Classes offered at the Summer Camp will include vocal technique, songwriting, scene study, on-camera acting and audition techniques, dance, pop performance and styling, improvisation and music theory. Deborah Gibson will also be teaching songwriting to select students.  Acclaimed acting teacher Howard Fine (renown for coaching every star in Hollywood) will be teaching a master acting class to select students as well. There will also be a special “Momager 101″ parents class with Diane Gibson that will be included in the tuition. (I’ll be the mom seated in the front row, furiously taking notes.)

AUDITION INFORMATION: Electric Youth is holding live auditions Sunday, March 1st, 2009, in Hollywood, CA.  Each potential camper should prepare a one minute monologue (or story) and one minute of a song that shows off their talent and personality. Campers can sing acapella or with piano accompaniment (no tracks though).  Bring sheet music if piano accompaniment is desired and bring a head-shot and resume, if you them. Complete applications here.

TUITION INFORMATION: Tuition is $2500 per student. Housing, transportation and lunch are not included in tuition.  Half of the total tuition is required upon acceptance to the program. No refunds are given once deposits are made. The remaining portion of the tuition is due by May 1st, 2009. Once accepted to the program, campers will be given payment instructions. Electric Youth has a capacity of only 70 students for the Hollywood Summer Camp. Once that number is reached, they begin wait listing applicants.

For application information please email Patrick at ElectricYouth08@aol.com. And be sure to tell them  Hollywood Mom sent you!

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CAMP for Show Biz Kids

Posted on 15. Jan, 2009 by Hollywood Mom.

Speaking as one whose Christmas tree is still up in mid January, I know it seems early to fret over summer camp. However, my friend Christa emailed earlier in the week asking if I knew of any acting-oriented camps I could recommend for a friends’ 13 year old daughter and before I knew it the OCD researcher in me kicked in.  My reply became rather lengthy and was taking some time to type up to the extent that my daughter finally asked, “Mom, why are you researching this instead of that girls’ mom?”  While I don’t have a good answer for her, the upside is that I now have a relevant, ready-made blog post and it’s jump started our own summer camp plans.  Listed below are a few camps, each radically different in their content and approach but all highly regarded. Fair warning: you may experience sticker shock.

Lee Strasberg Youth Theater Program has summer sessions here in Los Angeles and in NYC.  Jordan attended the two week camp in Manhattan and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The kids learned Strasberg’s technique, sense memory, audition skills, dance, movement – a smattering of skills.  We were living on the upper east side at the time she attended so it was an easy choice for us in terms of location.  We’d hop into a cab each morning, drop her off, then I’d walk a few blocks towards home then break down and catch a cab back to 65th Street.  Not all the campers are local though - we met families who traveled daily from Long Island and New Jersey – just for their children to participate. We met a few others who were actually staying in nearby hotels for the two week intensive – a real show of dedication I’m not sure I could muster. Not including accomodations and travel, this camp was really reasonable - about $100 a day which is the going rate for most day camps in metropolitan areas.

Another wildly popular camp is Electric Youth which provides the complete singing, dancing, and acting camp experience. With a heavy focus on singing and recording, it’s like the “American Idol” of Summer Camps created by none other than Debbie Gibson (yes, the 80′s pop star) and is guest taught by a myriad of celebrities.  If you choose this camp your child will be exposed to a lot of industry kids, so be prepared.  We first learned about EY while on an audition for the Kate Perry Video “Hot & Cold.”  A teen girl, whose uber-cool outfit we were all admiring, had just attended and was raving about it.  And of course I’m completely intrigued with their ”Momager 101″ class taught by Debbie’s mother Diane. Not kidding. I’ll be doing a full post on this power house camp soon.

The top “Film” camp is hosted by New York Film Academy at Universal Studios, but has locations in NYC, LA, London and Paris as well. NYFA touts illustrious campers like Steven Spielberg’s son.  Face it. if it’s good enough for the kid of this years Cecile B. Demile award winner, it’s probably good enough for yours.  This program offers camp for both film makers and performers but my take is that if you’re going to coulgh up the dough to attend, the technical film camp is the way to go here.

The last camp on my short list is a sleep-over camp held at a well-respected performing arts academy near Temecula.  The annual academy tuition runs about 28K per student non boarding and about 45k boarding.  I don’t know what the camp fees are but I’m guessing this camp doesn’t come cheap.  From what I’ve gathered online this program provides a more traditional overview of the arts including theater, music and dance.  If the price tag hasn’t scared you away yet, their web site is http://www.idyllwildarts.org/

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