About Us

• TADW is a six-week, intensive summer workshop for young people interested in 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, as well as a festival of student-written short plays, an evening of improvisation, and a showcase of musical theatre repertoire.
• For 2018, the productions will be “Mary Poppins, Jr.” and "James and the Giant Peach, Jr.". 

In the spring of 1957 two organizations in the West San Fernando Valley searched for a solution to their organizations' needs. Marsha Hunt, an actress, and Robert Tunks were searching for a program which would attract Valley teenagers to the newly created San Fernando Valley Youth Foundation (SFVYF). On the new San Fernando Valley State College (SFVSC) campus, Dean Dr. Delmar T. Oviatt and Mrs. Marvin Owen, Advisory Board member, searched for a venue that would call attention to the one-semester old campus as a source for enriching the social and cultural life of the growing community. The creation of the Teenage Drama Workshop (TADW) proved to be the ideal solution to both their searches (Schlosser).

The Department of Language and Literature at the college had just completed the production of Many Moons, a play for children. The cast consisted of almost all of the drama students at the college and many teenagers from the community. Because its director, William E. Schlosser, had recruited eager teenagers from the community to fill his cast, he was approached by Hunt and Oviatt to consider the possibility of some sort of drama oriented program for the summer of 1957 (Schlosser).

As the college campus consisted at that time of only twenty temporary wooden buildings and no performance space, a tent (photo 2) was rented and erected on what is now the Zelzah Parking lot, and the Teenage Drama Workshop opened its doors (or tent flaps) for the First Annual Teenage Drama Workshop. Eighty-six students enrolled in the new program and the productions of Greensleeves' Magic, Lady Precious Stream, Mr. Dooley Jr., and Alice in Wonderland played to appreciative audiences. Although the plays were artistic successes, according to Schlosser, they were not sold out and the program's budget finished in the red. The program, however, had received outstanding press. During the fall of 1957, the Department mounted a benefit production of Aladdin and His Lamp and toured with the aid of the San Fernando Valley Youth Foundation erasing the program's deficit (Schlosser).

The college administration evaluated the program and felt it should be sponsored solely by the college through the College Foundation. The summer of 1958 found the Second Annual Teenage Drama Workshop operating in one half of the "P" building. The other half of the building was used by the Building and Grounds Department as a carpenter shop. The lavatories of the wooden structures assigned to the Art Department became dressing rooms, costume storage, and the make-up rooms. The carpenter shop became a temporary scene shop. The Third Annual TADW again was located in the converted tin "P" building now called the Intime Theatre. The following year the workshop moved to the Stock Pavilions (photo 3) of the Devonshire Downs. The move to the Downs was made in an effort to obtain greater overall space and to afford greater audience comfort. In 1961, TADW moved into the newly completed Speech Drama Building on Nordhoff Avenue (Schlosser).

The reputation of the program grew and in 1968, one production, From Rags to Riches (photo 4), was a feature of the Children's Theatre Conference of the American Theatre Association. During this time, applicants continually outnumbered the available spaces in the program (Schlosser); (Handbook, 1981, 8).

Each year the program has produced a different theatre experience for all those attending, students, faculty, and support staff. This is because the program has attracted different visiting instructors of various backgrounds from the academic as well as the professional theatre. Each year, the workshop has drawn upon the personal experiences of these visiting artists to produce productions that have been widely varied from musical comedy to children's drama. The curriculum continuously has been updated with courses such as mime, improvisation and musical theatre. In 1981, the twenty-fifth anniversary of TADW, the children's play Androcles and the Lion, written by Aurand Harris, was produced as part of the workshop. Harris also directed it. When being interviewed about why so many plays by Aurand Harris were produced over the years, Schlosser stated that Harris was one of the leading children's playwrights of the time and that the two of them knew each other while they attended Northwestern University. Schlosser further stated that the idea for the Teenage Drama Program came from Northwestern's Cherub Program for High School Students in which he had taken part. Northwestern's program, however, is a combination of the Speech, Drama, Radio, and Television departments. Because the Teenage Drama Workshop at CSUN is sponsored by the Theatre Department alone, it is considered to be the oldest or one of the oldest drama programs for teenagers in the United States.

In the summer of 2016, TADW completed its fifty-ninth workshop with the production of Shrek Jr. and Around the World in 80 Days. When the curtain lowered after the final production, its current executive director, Doug Kaback, estimated that over the years more than 7,000 teenagers had studied and participated in this ongoing program. During that entire time, the TADW program was not staged only once, and that was in 1993.

Through the years there have been seven different executive directors of the workshop with Kaback, Schlosser, and Maryellen Clemons having the longest tenures. Some of the directors actively participated in the program while others took a more administrative approach to the program. Because of this, the workshops have tended to take on the emphasis or personality of the director who was currently in charge of the program. Examples of this are the administrative directorship of Anamarie Gallardo (1992) and the introduction of the Ten Minute Plays by Kaback. These plays are a series of short plays that are written and performed by the students.

• Students entering 7th – 12th grade as of Sept. 2018 may attend TADW, as well as June 2018 high school graduates.  The program welcomes those with little experience as well as those with a considerable performance background.  For those high school students interested in technical aspects of theatre, TADW offers a technical theatre track.
• 2018 estimated enrollment will be 70-85 students in the performance track and another 15 to 20 (students entering grades 9-12 in the fall) in the technical theatre track.  Registration is handled on a first-come, first-served basis. 
• Students are encouraged to apply and pay their $150 deposit online at www.csun.edu/tadw.

• Students, grades 9-12, attend 2 weeks of introductory courses in the technical aspect of theatre; exploring the theatre itself, the many design elements needed to mount a production, as well as the various pieces of equipment and machinery necessary. Classes are from 8:15 – 12:30pm each weekday morning. In addition to classes, students will have the opportunity to become involved in the afternoon production program.

• Each summer a variety of plays are produced, selected for their value to the community as well as to the performers. This year, TADW will continue to offer the technical theatre program for participants to learn everything backstage that goes into making the show happen. Participants will be offered an overview of various aspects of technical theatre they want to learn more about: lighting, sound, scenery, props, costume or stage management.
• Throughout the session, students will explore the technical aspect of their choice. These classes will be taught by professional designers and theatre technicians. All students will be required to participate in the hands on mounting of each production. During show time, students will be the running crew, board operators, and any other position needed to run the show. 

Students entering 9th – 12th grades may attend TADW. Students with little experience as well as those with considerable technical backgrounds are welcome. After the introductory classes, students will be placed in classes according to personal interest.  Some secondary schools give academic credit for participation in TADW. Check with your school counselor if you are interested in receiving academic credit.

• 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 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 plays. 
• 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!

Basically yes.  Extended rehearsals and Saturday rehearsals are also scheduled.  While this sounds like a tremendous commitment, TADW students will tell you that the experience is memorable and fun-filled, and we see many students return year after year. Of course, we understand if you are sick and must miss a day or two for illness, but TADW works like a theatre company with every member pulling his or her weight.  For this reason, students are expected to attend all classes and rehearsals.  Extended absences for vacations or for other reasons cannot be accommodated.  If you have specific questions, please address them to the TADW office by emailing the directors, or call (818) 677-5811.

Frankly, it’s a nickname that stuck a long time ago and continues to stick around.  It is a phonetic representation of our initials, TADW.  The students are also called TAD-Wanians.