Budding professionals

Watching a rehearsal, you can see the finesse an extra year's experience has made in the performance of the seniors, in the way they turn their heads or hold a position. But when the understudies take the stage, you glimpse their talent emerging in an idiosyncratic move or line reading.

As the juniors rehearse, the seniors sometimes jump up to correct a move or position. Me ntoring the newcomers is one way the group develops and maintains a sense of tradition. As Megan Bayha, a senior from Bakersfield, says, "Mentoring passes it along to the next generation." Scott notes, "You give them your signature moves, which maybe you learned from someone the previous year, and watch them come up with their own."

On graduation, the seniors will head to Los Angeles or New York to build their professional careers. Almost all the alumni have found a niche on or off-Broadway, in national and international touring productions, on cruise ships, in industrial shows, in regional theaters, and at various national theme parks, Himmelheber says. Among them are Brad Standley, Jennifer Hubilla, Julie Kirkpatrick, Kait Holbrook, Ryan Sander, Dashaun Young, Noah Rivera, Michael Criste, Trevor Illingsworth, Brook Aston, Landon Beard, and Joe Hutchison.

The current group members are set to emulate them. Watch for their names in your next "Playbill."

For more information: If you are considering booking The Preeminents for a performance, you can view a DVD of their work by e-mailing Eve Himmelheber at this address: ehimmelheber@fullerton.edu.