Read all about the rise of Phantom Projects and
how Steve Cisneros made a difference in his
community at the age of just 17.
Founder and guiding spirit of Phantom Projects, an
educational theatre group based in his native La
Mirada, this 29-year old writer-director-performer and
Artistic Director has created a sensation in the theatre
community with productions that help teens say "No" to
something that can make a mess of their young lives.
"Life has enough hardships. Why create your own
problems? So much of what we teach is already very
obvious to the teens, they just don't realize that it really
is possible"
After each performance with its attached Q & A session,
the cast is mobbed. Often accompanied by their
parents, grateful 12-to-18-year-olds cheer, crowd the
stage, embrace the actors as brothers and sisters, and
often want to pour out their hearts. Many of them leave
with a new determination: to tune out the media's
barrage of hypersexuality and listen more closely to
their own hearts and minds. Ninety minutes in the
theatre has taught them a lifelong lesson that parents,
churches and schools often seem unable to: if society
wants to rush you into adulthood, then make it genuine
adulthood. Be good to yourselves. Be smart. Be patient.
The groups touring scripts are all written by high school
teacher Bruce Gevirtzman (a recipient of NBC's "Crystal
Apple Award"), who has authored one a year for the
past twenty-five years. "He turns the scripts over to me
completely," Cisneros says. "It's weird, the role reversal.
I come back to him and tell him what works, what
doesn't, I add things, cut things, and I give it back to
him. Then he reworks it and gives it to me again. But I
still call him 'Mr. Gevirtzman,' because, well, he's my
teacher.”
He has a lot of balancing to do these days. He loves to
perform, and grew up performing since the age of 9. His
resume includes over 60 productions from venues
throughout Southern California, and a list of TV/Film
credits that indicate another career could still bloom.
But the path of education has been too strong of a pull.
He honed his craft of theatre management from working
at such theatres as South Coast Repertory, La Mirada
Theatre for the Performing Arts, and the Poway Center
for the Performing Arts. He has directed over 50
productions, and under his direction, the company has
secured over $200,000 in grants from various sources.
"Sometimes you wonder why you work in the non-profit
theatre world. But when a kid gains confidence, or just
says thank you, because they realize what they have
learned, either as an actor or an audience member,
then it is all worth it."
Casting, too, is a balancing act for the young manager-
director. At 29, he's already "over the hill" for his own
shows. He looks for 17-year-olds to play 17-year-olds.
‘It's weird. As a director, you know exactly what you're
looking for, but with these shows, what you're looking
for isn't someone who acts the lines, but who just goes
with them. We have some people who have 'wounds'
related to the topics and some who don't. I don't want
us to be entirely a group who have had pregnancy or
drug problems…We're a good mixture of those who've
'never touched the stuff' and those who have."
What matters to him in an audition comes after the
actor has done a good reading. It's at that point that
Cisneros throws him or her some test questions, taken
from those the group receives from its young audiences
after each show. "That's when the true audition starts,"
he says. "That's when we learn why--and if--they really
want to do the show; what they think of the message,
what caught their attention."
how Steve Cisneros made a difference in his
community at the age of just 17.
Founder and guiding spirit of Phantom Projects, an
educational theatre group based in his native La
Mirada, this 29-year old writer-director-performer and
Artistic Director has created a sensation in the theatre
community with productions that help teens say "No" to
something that can make a mess of their young lives.
"Life has enough hardships. Why create your own
problems? So much of what we teach is already very
obvious to the teens, they just don't realize that it really
is possible"
After each performance with its attached Q & A session,
the cast is mobbed. Often accompanied by their
parents, grateful 12-to-18-year-olds cheer, crowd the
stage, embrace the actors as brothers and sisters, and
often want to pour out their hearts. Many of them leave
with a new determination: to tune out the media's
barrage of hypersexuality and listen more closely to
their own hearts and minds. Ninety minutes in the
theatre has taught them a lifelong lesson that parents,
churches and schools often seem unable to: if society
wants to rush you into adulthood, then make it genuine
adulthood. Be good to yourselves. Be smart. Be patient.
The groups touring scripts are all written by high school
teacher Bruce Gevirtzman (a recipient of NBC's "Crystal
Apple Award"), who has authored one a year for the
past twenty-five years. "He turns the scripts over to me
completely," Cisneros says. "It's weird, the role reversal.
I come back to him and tell him what works, what
doesn't, I add things, cut things, and I give it back to
him. Then he reworks it and gives it to me again. But I
still call him 'Mr. Gevirtzman,' because, well, he's my
teacher.”
He has a lot of balancing to do these days. He loves to
perform, and grew up performing since the age of 9. His
resume includes over 60 productions from venues
throughout Southern California, and a list of TV/Film
credits that indicate another career could still bloom.
But the path of education has been too strong of a pull.
He honed his craft of theatre management from working
at such theatres as South Coast Repertory, La Mirada
Theatre for the Performing Arts, and the Poway Center
for the Performing Arts. He has directed over 50
productions, and under his direction, the company has
secured over $200,000 in grants from various sources.
"Sometimes you wonder why you work in the non-profit
theatre world. But when a kid gains confidence, or just
says thank you, because they realize what they have
learned, either as an actor or an audience member,
then it is all worth it."
Casting, too, is a balancing act for the young manager-
director. At 29, he's already "over the hill" for his own
shows. He looks for 17-year-olds to play 17-year-olds.
‘It's weird. As a director, you know exactly what you're
looking for, but with these shows, what you're looking
for isn't someone who acts the lines, but who just goes
with them. We have some people who have 'wounds'
related to the topics and some who don't. I don't want
us to be entirely a group who have had pregnancy or
drug problems…We're a good mixture of those who've
'never touched the stuff' and those who have."
What matters to him in an audition comes after the
actor has done a good reading. It's at that point that
Cisneros throws him or her some test questions, taken
from those the group receives from its young audiences
after each show. "That's when the true audition starts,"
he says. "That's when we learn why--and if--they really
want to do the show; what they think of the message,
what caught their attention."
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| Steve Cisneros |
