Teen apprentices selected for Kingsmen Shakespeare program

Eight teens have been selected as Rhodes junior apprentices for the Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival at California Lutheran University.

The program is named in honor of Rick Rhodes, an Emmy-winning composer from Oak Park who coordinated the curriculum for many years before he died in 2005 from a brain tumor.

The students are Teza Belmond and Patrick Rosenberg from Agoura High School, Kristina Gabler from Thousand Oaks High School, Ezekiel Irvin from Oxnard High School, Rachel Wells from Santa Susana High School in Simi Valley, and Danny Graff, Josh Sacks and Becca Johnson from Camarillo High School.

Before each production, the junior apprentices perform their own Shakespeare-spoofing skits in Will's Corner, and they interact with audience members as part of the "greenshow" pre-show entertainment. They also work backstage.

The teens attend acting classes taught by college-age apprentices or professional company members.

The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, a professional theater company of CLU, presents the festival on the campus annually. This summer the first festival play, "Macbeth," ended its run last weekend. The comedy "All's Well That Ends Well" will run from tonight, July 17, through Sun., Aug. 2.

The grounds open at 5:30 p.m. for picnicking. Pre-show

entertainment featuring the Rhodes junior apprentices and college apprentices begins at 6:45 p.m., and shows start at 8 p.m.

For more information, visit www.kingsmenshakespeare.org or call (805) 493-3455.