During every semester the Performing Arts Department puts on a play for all to see. This year the Spring Production is “Brighton Beach Memoirs” by Neil Simon. This a coming-of-age story for a boy who is a part of a Jewish family living in Brooklyn.
In preparation for the production there is a lot of work that is put into each scene. There are many steps that have to be carried out before opening night. First there are auditions, call backs, read throughs, character development, memorization, blocking, prop creation, costume development, run through and many rehearsals.
Each cast member, crew member and director eats, sleeps and thinks about the play.
They invest their time and money into the production so that it cannot only be enjoyable to the audience but also believable to those watching.
This year there are many fresh and brand new faces coming to the stage here at Bakersfield College including the director of this production, Jennifer Sampson.
Although she is new to directing here at BC, she is far from an amateur. She has had the opportunity to attend some of the top performing art schools such as the University of San Diego and the University of Evansville, and she is also married to an experienced thespian, who acquired a role in the movie Revolutionary Road.
Jennifer Sampson, an adjunct faculty member, teaches an acting class and two public speaking communication classes. She also got the opportunity to be a guest teacher at Fresno Pacific University, California State University of Bakersfield and at La Jolla Playhouse Conservatory.
She is not only a teacher with acting experience but also a woman who also enjoys watching young actors and students grow to their full potential and be better people. When asked what her goal for the beginning actors in the spring production she said, “I want them to experience how being in a professional theater feels and expose it to others.”
“I have loved to act every since I was in my first play Helen Keller at the age of 11, I was so dedicated to my character, Helen’s blind friend, that I would walk around the house with a blindfold around my eyes. I want my students to have that same kind of dedication to their characters.”
As she progresses as an acting teacher and the director of “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” she wants students to be knocking the door down trying to get involved in theater and be more interested in coming to see the productions held at BC. Sampson also wants the theater to be filled with people coming to audition for parts, be a part of the crew and creative team.
So for those who have not heard, opening night for “Brighton Beach Memoirs” is April 30. Sampson says that you will enjoy every moment of the play and will want to come back for more. She says, please come out, bring a friend and support the performing arts department.