Pros offer theater class

Utah can feel like a million miles away from New York — the center of the theater universe.

SCERA Center for the Arts in Orem is working to bridge that gap by hosting a musical theater workshop called "Take It From the Top," on July 6. It will be taught by Paul Canaan, co-founder of Take It From the Top and a Broadway performer.

The workshop is limited to the first 150 registrants, ages 8 to 22. It will be held at the SCERA Center for the Arts, 745 S. State, Orem, from 1-4:30 p.m. The workshop is $65 and the audition master class is $50 ($105 for both classes.) You may register at the theater or call 801-225-2787, ext. 1017.

"There is a huge need for arts education," Canaan said in a phone interview while walking his dog through Central Park. "These kids want to have a link to Broadway, and they want to be part of it somehow."

"Take It From the Top" is a workshop designed to teach the basics of musical theater: dancing, singing and acting — as well as the mastering the infamous audition.

Canaan was one of the judges on MTV's "Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods" and has worked on Broadway in "Legally Blonde," "Miss Saigon," "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "La Cage aux Folles," among others.

"I went to BYU, and my dad taught there," he said. "But I mostly grew up in San Francisco, and I only lived in Provo for a year and a half."

During his final semester, he auditioned for "Miss Saigon" when the Broadway company held auditions in Salt Lake City. "I got the show, and two weeks later I was off to New York. That was in 2000," he said, "and I've been doing eight shows a week ever since."

Ready for a change of pace, Canaan and Laura Bell Bundy, star of "Legally Blonde," created "Take It From the Top" as a way to reach out to kids. "Our first workshop, we had over 100 kids all there and screaming," he said, "it's been so great."

Bundy won't be joining Canaan in Orem as she's committed to a weeklong run of "Legally Blonde" in her home town of Nashville.

But he's not coming alone. He's bringing casting director Megan Larche, who cast the revival of "A Chorus Line," "The Lion King" and the film version of "Hairspray."

"She's going to be taking headshots and resumes; she'll be a great resource. And it's a great experience to be seen in front of a casting director," Canaan said.

"People always think that it's going to happen in New York," he added, "but it's a casting director's dream to pluck undiscovered talent and bring them to Broadway."