Producing Artistic Director & Co-Founder Steve Cisneros directing our Center of the Universe cast as we film our Virtual Reading of the show {stay tuned ❤️} • If you're new to #phantomprojects here's a little snippet on how we got started from an interview Steve did! • "I grew up with a passion for being on stage. I did as many plays as possible starting at the age of 9. This led to a little bit of TV/Film work, print, etc. I loved it. All of it. At La Mirada High School, I was part of a program my Language Arts teacher, Bruce Gevirtzman, started. Each year he would write a script geared towards addressing social issues and topics that were relevant to his students. I was lucky to be part of it in 11th and 12th grade. He and I worked well together and it opened my eyes to the power of theatre and the impact it can have on an audience. At the age of 17, I realized, that my calling wasn’t on stage anymore, but behind the scenes. I also realized that there was very little theatre for me at that age. No one was targeting me, artistically or financially. I couldn’t afford the big shows, and I didn’t to watch children’s theatre. So I started my own company right out of high school. Bruce allowed me to use his scripts and I invited dozens of educators from Southern California to watch a staged reading, and to basically present my idea. The City of La Mirada and my alma mater, La Mirada High School provided support and we pitched our idea. The next year, we booked a 5-month tour to schools with our messaged based theatre company, using other actors my same age. The idea worked! It turns out there were a lot of teens who were hungry for the same thing I was. So, we kept adding shows. We rehearsed in my parent’s garage and expanded to a season of shows at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, this time adding plays based on books we read in school. Now, we produce 12 shows a year and bus in thousands of students to experience live theatre, many for the first time. Our touring shows travel to elementary, middle and high schools with shows about bullying, racism, science, and more." #nonprofit #artseducationmatters #educationaltheatre (at California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBghxuBplLg/?igshid=exj65hq8rqvf