LATTE Froths Up Teens' Enthusiasm for Acting Through Workshop

Seventh-grader John Naughton said he would recommend other youths try the La Grange Area Teen Theater Ensemble because, “There’s a lot of great people there. It’s fun and it’s interesting.”

Coco Stubitsch, like Naughton, also a seventh-grader at St. Francis Xavier School in La Grange, says, “They’re always nice. It’s a ton of fun to go there and I look forward to it.”

Both teens live in La Grange Park.

Youths ages 11 to 19 who want an opportunity to decide if they want to act, even if they don’t have previous theater experience, can participate in LATTE’s fall workshop from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at the First Baptist Church of La Grange, 20 N. Ashland Ave. Auditions for the group’s fall show will follow until 5 p.m.

Felicia Pfluger, the group’s artistic and managing director, said,”We’re exposing them to something new and different.”

Six theater professionals, including Pfluger, will present workshops that include acting techniques; script writing; stage combat; improvisational comedy; choreography; song and lyric writing; and stage chemistry.

The cost is $25 and registration is available by calling 708-655-0989 or emailing lattetheater@gmail.com.

The presenters include Ron Keaton, actor and vocalist; Joe Jencks, internationally known folk singer; Rachel Stubbs, sword maker and stage combat choreographer; Mike Ostrowski, comedian; Pfluger; and her daughter, Alyssa, who is the mentor of the ensemble’s senior troupe.

“The kids get so much from people who have (theater experience),” Felicia Pfluger said about the spring and fall workshops.

Pfluger said she believes those going through the workshop are better prepared for the audition, for which participants can bring their own monologues or do cold reads.

“It can make them confident and at ease with themselves,” Pfluger said.

Shows usually are held in the spring or the fall and held on the second-floor stage at La Grange Village Hall, but the date of the next performance is not yet solidified, she said last week.  

With arts programs being cut in school, the ensemble can try to teach leadership and life skills through stagecraft, said the managing director. Kids can, “overcome shyness and learn self-discipline.”

A non-profit troupe in its sixth year, “something like this didn’t exist (previously) in the community,” she said.

Stan Thomas started the group, initially called the La Grange Hometown Teen Players.  While people knew the youths gave performances at the La Grange Theatre, they could not remember the name, she said. A brainstorming session came up with LATTE, also a kind of coffee drink.

“It just fit,” she said. “The kids are frothy in a good way and full of energy and enthusiasm. You try to pull something from each of the teens.”

Thomas left the group after 2-1/2 or 3 years and moved south because of job issues, she said. “He left a legacy and some wonderful shoes to fill.”

The ensemble went through different directors.  Pfluger had been the director for different plays, but left to focus on her career. Her background is in counseling and as a human resources manager. She had theater experience in high school and college and was pursuing that career before she went into business. 

Pfluger, a Brookfield resident, returned to the ensemble, which has a junior troupe for sixth through eighth grades, and senior troupe for teens attending high school. A second family member—her husband, Jeffrey—helps as an acting coach.

Most participants are from La Grange, but some come from Riverside and Stickney. Schools represented include Lyons Township, Fenwick and Riverside-Brookfield high schools, along with Park Junior High and St. Francis Xavier grade schools.

Naughton said he heard about the ensemble through his brother’s friend’s mother, who is Felicia Pfluger.  He joined it about two years ago. “I really like it.”

“It helped me to become a better actor, to have more expression when I was on stage. I wasn’t a very good actor. And it’s improved.”

Naughton previously had performed in school plays at St. Francis and took theater classes at his park district.

He has performed with the ensemble on its  skits show, “Comedy Then and Now” and on “Leaving Iowa.” He also did a play with the Back Door Theater in La Grange.

Stubitsch was in the same shows as Naughton, who told her about the ensemble. She started last year.

“I like acting; it sounded like something fun to try,” she said.

She had been in two school plays—“Alice in Wonderland” in second grade and “Beauty and the Beast” in fifth grade—but said she gained confidence through the ensemble when trying characters. “My acting is better. I have fun with it.”

Pfluger said the ensemble is not getting any grants at this time. It does charge the teens a $75 participation fee per production, but contends that amount is, “very reasonable.”  

Other shows the ensemble have done are “Blarney,” based on children’s shows, and “Chocolate Cake for Breakfast.”

Plays are selected that are comfortable for all audiences, she said. “We want tender, poignant, witty and intense.” The ensemble wants something that, “people can relax to and leave their troubles at the doors, and think.”  It also looks for something, “that plays to the teens’ strengths and help them reach a new level.”

For costumes or props, sometimes the ensemble  goes to thrift stores. Sets are minimal, but are built by the group.

But if anyone wants to help with the theater productions, they can contact the ensemble, she said.