Adderley School Marks Spring with Flurry of Broadway Shows

Springtime at the Adderley School of Performing Arts will see a whole garden of Broadway musicals bloom on the local stage. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Adderley School has matured into a serious studio where kids and young adults learn the magic of the musical using Broadway as their text. Responding to a request from families in Santa Barbara, founding director Janet Adderley opened a second studio there at the end of February, offering five classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She also imagines that her year-long advanced students in the Palisades will have an opportunity to tour their spring musicals in Santa Barbara. Now that she has opened the studio on State Street and hired musical director Linda Brandt, Adderley is back in the Palisades. ‘I’ve missed my roots in the Palisades,’ says Adderley, who is teaching more than ever. She is preparing one group of six-year-olds for ‘Annie’ and another for ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ and she is coaching two of the three year-long classes. With an enrollment of about 350 kids in any given semester, Adderley has a staff of 8, who from time to time have been former students. She is also assisted by two current students, Palisadian Alicia Dougherty, 14, and Layla Briscoe, who are members of the Adderley Repertory Company. ”But it’s showtime in the springtime that all the students are working towards. The Adderley Junior Repertory Company, which includes students from 7 to 14, will stage ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at the end of April; ‘Anything Goes and ‘Hairspray’ will follow. The Adderley Repertory Company, made up of the 15- to- 17-year-old actors, will stage ‘Chicago’ the first week of June at Pepperdine. Adderley, a singer and actress of obvious talent and ambition, redirected her enthusiasm towards shepherding young students. ‘When a child does a good job, I am thrilled and blessed that the spirit has given me a purpose in life and something that gives me such joy. Not everybody gets that.’