NorCal Arts

★Jocelynn O.

Unethical/unprofessional/unrealistic... I have been involved with the performing arts and entertainment industry for almost 25 years; I have never met a production company like this before. My niece was pulled from her role because she missed one rehearsal. She had been rehearsing for months and because of a matter that took priority over an extracurricular activity, she had to miss a rehearsal. I spoke with the producer, Michele Noufer, who basically said that their productions have to take priority over the student staying on track in school. They claimed that it was a safety issue to miss one tech week rehearsal. I have worked on productions during tech week and watched many tech week rehearsals of other actors. If someone missed one rehearsal during this week, they would have another actor read their lines so the rehearsal could continue smoothly and then on the following day, they would inform the actor on any changes that were made with blocking, lines, etc. during the beginning part of the following day’s tech week rehearsal or during the prep period before a performance in front of an audience: the team huddle. They were never dropped from their role in the show. Other actors that I have spoken to have never heard of anything like this before either. It was even more unsettling to find out that when rehearsals began for the production, the children were able to bring their homework to rehearsals so they could study during downtime but after a point, they stopped allowing children to work on their homework during rehearsals. When professional child actors are not being used on a set, they are working with their set tutors so they can continue their education in between working. Even when I participated in community theater productions as a child, our director encouraged us to bring our homework to study during downtime; parent volunteers would help the children study when they weren’t on stage. A production company that prohibits working on homework during downtime seems unethical. I understand that being in a production is a commitment but keeping students from studying during extended downtime could be used to help prevent them from falling behind in their classes. Every production that I have been a part of encourages the cast (children/adults) and crew to bring books, study materials or anything else to work on while they are not on the set; downtime can be taken advantage of to maintain productivity levels in other areas. Banning studying during downtime is not realistic or conducive to students balancing their school work with their extracurricular activities. When actors are busy with being involved in a production, being able to take any moment of downtime whether at home or at rehearsals to stay caught up on other commitments/priorities is critical to prevent falling behind. I would not recommend this production company to anyone.

★★★★★Grace Bunting

I love NorCal! The staff is friendly, kind, and professional, which can be seen not just in how they interacts with students, but also how they treat each other. NorCal does an incredible job at bringing theatre, dance, and music to kids at an accessible, yet challenging level. Students leave camps, outreach classes, productions, and various after school programs feeling inspired and accomplices- and hungry for more arts!

★★★★★Kelly Ryan

Wonderful company and staff. I can’t say enough about how much they nurtured and supported my daughter! She grew and learned so much from them.

★★★★★Reylina Curtis

I love this company! Bringing students out of their comfort zone through theatre and dance!

★Z H

Unprofessional staff. My daughter attended a summer camp at her school and NorCal SOTA was a partition vendor. Summer camp does not require a mandatory participation. My daughter earn a role in the summer play and was practicing every day, even if she missed a summer camp day. Each day she was there she would attend the practice. As a working mom, I would have to adjust my schedule so she can participate in the practices. The day of the recital, NorCal SOTA staff told her she can’t be a part of the play. My 7 year old daughter was emotional, and heartbroken because she missed some days for practice. I tried speaking with Amy but she was heartless and unprofessional and refused to let her be a part of the play.