Occidental Children's Theater: "Trumpelstiltskin"

Donald Trump gets the Occidental Children's Theater treatment in "Trumpelstiltskin," a comedy that will run July 7-August 20 at Occidental College's outdoor Remsen Bird Hillside Theater.

Now in its 16th year, the critically acclaimed Children's Theater will perform a mash-up of "Rumpelstiltskin," a fairy tale about a girl who must spin straw into gold and a dwarf, Rumpelstiltskin, who is both her savior and threat--and Trump, real estate developer, sometime presidential candidate, and host of the NBC reality television show "The Apprentice."

"We like to incorporate pop culture into our plays. Trump is such a bombastic personality, and so is Rumpelstiltskin," said Jamie Angell, an assistant professor at Occidental and the theater's founding artistic director. "They're both blowhards. It's a perfect match."

In addition to "Trumpelstiltskin," the all-Oxy cast will interpret three folk stories: the Native American "Coyote, Iktome, and the Rock," "Ma Liang and His Magic Brush" from China, and "The Three Simpletons" from Mexico. The play's script and action are the result of weeks of improvisation and revision by Angell, the cast, and Nick Erickson, a movement coach and associate theater professor at Louisiana State University.

Occidental students and recent alumni--Claudia Gomez '10, Derwyn Johnson '13, Robert Lundgren '13, Kaja Martin '08, Dana Vigran '10, and Tristan Waldron '11--make up the cast. The hour-long production will be performed without props, sets, or special costumes, with the exception of black cloth sashes and 5-foot-long wooden sticks.

"Trumpelstiltskin" runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 10 a.m. at the Hillside Theater. Summer Outreach performances are scheduled at these northeast Los Angeles recreation centers: Highland Park (July 13), Glassell Park (July 20), El Centro de Accion Social in Pasadena (July 27), Yosemite (August 10), and Eagle Rock (August 27).

Tickets: Admission is $10 for adults and $7 for children for performances at Hillside Theater. (Tickets are discounted for Oxy students and employees.) Call the theater box office at (323) 259-2922 for tickets. Group rates are also available by calling (323) 259-2771. Occidental College is located at 1600 Campus Road in Eagle Rock. Parking is located across from the theater. A campus map and directions to the College are available at www.oxy.edu/x119.xml.

Summer Institute of Fun: Children ages 6-15 can still register for Occidental's Summer Institute of Fun, a weeklong acting camp taught by the Children's Theater troupe in the College's Keck Theater. Held Monday through Friday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. (6- to 8-year-olds) and 1 to 4 p.m. (8- to 15-year-olds), the camp sessions begin July 18 and end August 19. For a complete schedule and pricing, go to http://bit.ly/mNgbxk or call (323) 259-2771. Please note that some sessions are sold out.