San Diego's Best-Kept Secret No More: Lyric Opera's Summer Academy

Do you have a budding Patti Lupone or Mandy Patinkin in your family? Are you looking for a way to keep your teenaged theatre rats busy and happy when they’re out of school this summer? Then let us introduce you to the best-kept secret in San Diego: Lyric Opera’s Summer Academy.

2010 will be the Academy’s fifth year summer at the Birch North Park Theatre, providing top-notch musical theatre instruction and performance preparation by professional musical theatre artists to rising young stars from middle and high schools throughout San Diego County.

Trust us, some actors appearing on stages around the country right now haven’t had preparation this good. The Academy is a four-week intensive training program for middle school and high school students aged 11-17 who harbor a serious desire to pursue future careers in opera and musical theater. Each week the students spend 30 hours studying and training in all aspects of musical theater. They all participate in acting, voice, and dance classes, as well as well as rehearsals for a final performance of a classic musical, which this year is “School of Rock.”

Partially underwritten by the Visual and Performing Arts Department of San Diego City Schools, the Academy is the long-time dream of company directors Leon Natker and J. Sherwood Montgomery, and forms the third branch of Lyric Opera San Diego’s mission: “Art, Entertainment, Education.” Leon and Jack’s goal is for the Academy’s students to leave the program prepared with the skills, materials, and confidence to approach auditions and performances in a professional manner. The students discover that theatre is not only fun, but is an art form which requires hard work and discipline. We’re proud to say Academy graduates have gone on to perform on Broadway and at The Old Globe, San Diego Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Opera, and Lyric Opera San Diego, among others.

Just look at who the teachers are:

Academy Director/Stage Director: Jack Montgomery


Academy Asst. Director/ Choreographer/Dance Teacher: Shirley Giltner


Voice Teacher/Musical Director: Enrique Toral

Accompanist/Assistant Music Director: Braden McKinley 


Acting Teacher: Leon Natker 


Master Classes: Shauna Ostrom, Pam Stompoly, and members of the South Pacific national tour

If you’re interested in placing your budding Tony Award winner in Lyric Opera’s Academy, click here for full details about the application process. There are limited scholarships, and applications and essays are required. Break a leg!