Heather Murtagh/Daily Journal Jenni Barber, center left, and Jared Gertner, center right, warm up for improv games with campers at the Young Actors’ Theatre Camp in La Honda.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” cast members helped Bay Area young actors learn to spell success in the world of working theater.

About 40 young actors from 8 to 18 years old learned the ins and outs of acting from Jenni Barber and Jared Gertner, two members of the San Francisco musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Students at the Young Actors’ Theatre Camp in La Honda had a chance to talk about the improv-inspired show, get some tips for breaking in the biz and try a few drama games.

The Young Actors’ Theatre Camp is a nonprofit that began seven years ago in Berkeley.

It was first set up as a week-long experience for kids to learn a play and perform it at the end of the week. It was always a “cute performance,” said Camp Director Shawn Ryan, but not exactly what he wanted.

“What we created was based on what we wish we [the counselors] had at that age,” he said.

Now students have the opportunity to hone skills in three different classes each day during a week-long summer program in La Honda. There is also a masters series featuring performers out in the field, like Barber and Gertner.

“The best education when you’re young is to just perform,” said Gertner, who plays William Barfee.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is a musical based on an improv show called “C-R-E-P-U-S-C-L-E.”  It featured six nerdy kids in a spelling bee with lots of audience participation. A playwright enjoyed the show and helped turn it into the musical that opened on Broadway last year. The young characters allows the actors the liberty to let loose and just have fun, they said. But they didn’t start out with such a success.  

“It was so hard. I would see kids on TV and in movies. And I would sit in my room in Ohio and wonder how to get to New York or how to get to L.A. My mom told me to take little steps. I really worked. ... There were so many steps. There’s no quick fix. No elevator to a great job,” said Barber.

The camp tries to emphasize that everything is OK. There is no judgment. Just let loose and explore other talents. When Gertner began leading improv exercises he reiterated that mantra as one he lives by. Just the chance to chat and listen to young actors working in the field was an inspiration to many of the teens.

“It’s such an inspiration,” said 17-year-old Danielle Shoshani. “It’s one thing to talk to the counselors but to get to talk to real working actors telling me what it’s really like. It’s an inspiration.”

Sixteen-year-old David Blackett shared Shoshani’s sentiments.

“They’re obviously bringing us a healthy view of theater. They aren’t telling us, ‘work, work, work!’ They’re saying do it if you’re really into it,” he said. “Just do it because you love it.”

Other camps are available throughout the year.

For more information visit                           www.youngactorstheatrecamp.com.