Photo Flash: CHAMPS Drama Academy Presents BECOMING MEMORIES

From May 20 -29, the CHAMPS Drama Academy will present Becoming Memories at the Avery Schreiber Theatre in the NoHo Arts District. The Drama Academy at CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts is a professional, conservatory-style training program for students passionate about the craft of acting. Becoming Memories is playwright Arthur Giron's haunting drama, created in collaboration with members of the Illusion Theatre of Minneapolis, that uses real life stories to follow five Midwestern families through three generations, creating a richly textured portrait of small town America from 1911 to the present. Guild Hall-trained drama teacher Dawn Lisell directs the senior Drama Academy class. An example of how CHAMPS utilizes collaboration to teach through the arts, Becoming Memories features an original score and sound design composed, performed, and recorded by Frank Becker and the upper level Music Academy students; costume design by Brandy Smith-Curry and the Costume Design students; technical direction by Caroline Law and the Theater Arts students; and media design by Vince Campi and the Digital Arts students.

CHAMPS Charter High School is one of California's leading high schools for the arts, drawing students in grades 9-12 from all over Los Angeles to its campus in Van Nuys. CHAMPS strives to instill students with a lifelong love of learning through the arts while maintaining rigorous and challenging academic standards. Academies include Drama, Dance, Music, Film, Media, Radio Broadcasting and RoboticS. Boasting its third graduating class this spring, CHAMPS students have been accepted to some of the country's top universities, liberal arts colleges, and conservatory programs including Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory, California Institute of the Arts, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Pomona College and Stanford. For more information, visit the CHAMPS website at www.champscharter.org or call to make an appointment for a tour of the campus.

Becoming Memories takes place May 20 through 29: Fridays @ 7 pm; Saturdays @ 8 pm; and Sundays @ 2 pm and 7 pm. Tickets are$15 - $25. The Avery Schreiber Theatre is located at 11050 Magnolia Blvd. in the NoHo Arts District (North Hollywood, CA 91601). To purchase tickets, call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006or go to www.brownpapertickets.com.