The Teenage Drama Workshop (TADW) at California State University Northridge (CSUN) is a six-week, intensive summer workshop for young people interested in all aspects of the theatre. In fact, it is the longest-running workshop of its kind in the nation.

Through the program, students receive intensive training in the areas of acting, dance, and voice, or technical theatre arts (costume, stagecraft, lighting and sound).  The students form a theatre company and stage two productions (a musical and a play), as well as a festival of student-written short plays, and a showcase of music theatre repertoire.

For 2009, the musical will be “The Wiz” and the play will be “Pinocchio”.

TADW auditions, classes and performances take place in Nordhoff Hall, on the campus of California State University, Northridge (CSUN) in the heart of the San Fernando Valley.  Nordhoff Hall is located at 18111 Nordhoff Street, just east of Reseda Blvd.

All students must audition on two Saturdays, June 6th and 13th, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. (Students must attend both days.)

The faculty and staff are members of the CSUN theatre department, experienced secondary school drama teachers and theatre professionals.

Students entering 7th – 12th grade as of Sept. 2009 may attend TADW, as well as June 2009 high school graduates.  The program welcomes those with little experience as well as those with a considerable performance background. For those interested in technical aspects of theatre, TADW will offer a technical theatre track beginning in 2009.

Registration for Summer 2009 will be capped at 75 students in the production track and another 10 to 15 in the technical theatre track.  Registration is handled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Students in the performance track begin the day with intensive classes in voice, dance and acting, along with an elective (improvisation, musical theatre or playwriting).  After lunch, they break out by cast to rehearse for either the musical or the play.

Students in the new technical track will begin their morning with classes in costuming, lighting, sound and stagecraft.  After lunch, they will break out by crew to work behind the scenes on the musical or play.

As the six weeks come to an end and the productions go up, the performance students will also use their afternoon session to rehearse for dance class finals, to stage and rehearse their 10-minute plays, and to prepare for the musical theatre showcase called “Munch & Crunch.”  Needless to say, TADW is a busy place!

Performance dates and times are listed at www.csun.edu/tadw.

For more information, as well as application or enrollment materials, visit our website, or call.

TADW 2009 runs one session only, from June 22 through Aug. 2.  

The program runs from 8 a.m. to 4:15 daily, with extended hours and rehearsals during performance weeks.

Mandatory auditions will be held on Saturday June 6th and 13th, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. All students are expected on both audition days.

Additional info and FAQ available on our website.

For updates, "Fan" us on Facebook under "Teenage Drama Workshop at CSUN".