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Dreams come true for troupers
by Jerry Roberts
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Loree Lynn, left center, the founder of DreaMakers, celebrates with her students, who won more than 60 medals last month at the World Championships of Performing Arts. |
DreaMakers was true to its name last month as a dozen members of the Manhattan Beach performing arts group collected more than 60 medals at the fifth annual World Championships of the Performing Arts in Burbank.
The nonprofit DreaMakers Center for Aspiring Performing Artists, based in a private home in the city’s Tree Section, collected more medals than any other collective entered in the competitions, which drew participants from 17 nations. That was down from last year’s 30 countries due to travel restrictions and other fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. The DreaMakers who collected more than 10 medals during the week of competitions in varying categories from standup comedy to gospel singing to dance and modeling were Albert Morris of Manhattan Beach, Flora Morin of Torrance and Carol Dufner of Wilmington.
As important to the performers as the medals were the industry contacts they made. Liz Owen, for instance, a 22-year-old from Manhattan Beach, won two silver medals for acting and a bronze in dance. "Three different agents called me after the competition," she said. "I was ready to totally give up my artistic ambitions after college and was resigned to trudge through society. But after I joined DreaMakers, I got a sense of community from a support group. It was a nurturing environment. I got a commercial job for Bolle sunglasses and an acting job came up from a sort of mini-‘Twilight Zone’ piece I wrote with someone else about bureaucracy. A woman saw my performance of it and asked me to do the piece at a conference in Washington, D.C., in March."
Kay Shepard, a board director of the group, credits DreaMakers’ Loree Lynn, the founder, CEO and head instructor with creating the accepting atmosphere. Griff O’Neil, the president of the championships and a former producer of television’s syndicated "Starsearch," recently named Lynn Southern California’s official talent scout for the competition. "DreaMakers presents an opportunity to market our talents without trying to become rejection-proof," Shepard said. "Since ‘Starsearch’ went off the air, there isn’t any sort of big welcoming forum for new talent. It’s a tremendous opportunity, and DreaMakers will be returning year after year."
David Bryan, who won bronzes in drama, vocals and gospel singing, was a bellhop at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for four years when he joined the group, which he considers as much an intimate support group and ad hoc "family" as a troupe of talented aspiring showbiz types. "Since I joined, I’ve been in an independent film, ‘Annie and Maggie,’ and have done enough commercials — for Sprint, McDonald’s and others — to get my Screen Actors Guild card," Bryan said.
The family atmosphere also is engendered in part by the participation of performers of all ages. Cameron Gage, a 14-year-old singer and actress, walked away from the competition with a gold and two silver medals. "There’s a big feeling of total support here," said Gage, whose participation was sponsored by Good Stuff Restaurants. "You can express yourself, and the performing is fun. This is a great growing experience for me."
Hawthorne resident Jennifer Michelle, 7, won two gold and two silver medals in gospel singing and Broadway performing. After the death of her mother, DreaMakers offered the girl an outlet to express her considerable talents. Other DreaMakers-based performers who collected medals in the championships were Kristin Giermann, Mike Sullivan, Lynn Francis, Katie Kelly, Veronica Thaarman and Jonathan Whittle-Utter. ER