El Camino College anchors South Bay theatre training from its campus beside Alondra Park, producing five to six shows a year, mainstage productions, workshop stagings, and a major musical accompanied by live orchestra, across venues that include the Campus Theatre and the 2,000-seat Marsee Auditorium.
The academic path offers a Theatre AA with emphasis options spanning acting, technical theatre, and production, plus the AA-T transfer degree pointed at CSU theatre departments. Coursework runs from acting fundamentals and intermediate acting through an audition and cold-reading workshop, Shakespeare, and improvisation, with stagecraft, lighting, costuming, and stage makeup for the technically minded. Visiting-artist master classes and working professional adjunct faculty keep industry air in the building; the 2025-26 season included The Addams Family and The Laramie Project.
Open enrollment, $46 per unit for California residents, and concurrent enrollment for high schoolers make the绲屾笀ics trivially accessible. South Bay actors starting from zero, or building a transfer resume without debt, start here and graduate into the university programs and private studios elsewhere in this directory.
Techniques taught
- Eclectic / multi-technique: Schools that draw on several lineages and fit the tools to the actor, not the reverse.
Class types
Enrollment and schedule
Open-enrollment California community college; no audition to enroll in the program, production casting via department auditions. Duration: AA/AA-T typically two years full-time.
Published pricing
| Program | Published price | Source, as of |
|---|---|---|
| CA resident enrollment fee per unit | $46/unit (plus $27 health fee per fall/spring semester, $2 student representation fee per term) | source 路 2026-07-16 |
Prices are the school's own published rates on the dates shown. We never estimate prices. Always confirm before enrolling.
Location
Questions actors ask
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Is admission to El Camino College Theatre Department by audition?
When was this information last verified?
Sources and verification
- Theatre Arts | El Camino College, accessed 2026-07-16
- El Camino Theatres, accessed 2026-07-16
- Tuition & Fees | El Camino College, accessed 2026-07-16
- History of El Camino College, accessed 2026-07-16
Researched 2026-07-16, last verified 2026-07-16. Facts above come only from these sources. Anything we could not confirm is simply not shown. Report incorrect information or claim this listing if you represent the school.
Nearby schools
California State University, Long Beach, Department of Theatre Arts
Cal State Long Beach's Theatre Arts BA with an audition-gated Performance: Acting option and the California Repertory Company as its producing arm, at CSU-resident tuition.
Norwalk, southeast Los Angeles CountyCerritos College Theatre, Film and Television Department
Cerritos College's theatre and film department in Norwalk: an acting-emphasis AA gated by a jury, graduated performance credit up to lead roles, four productions a season, at $46 per unit.
Lakewood Village area, Liberal Arts CampusLong Beach City College Theatre Arts (Performing Arts Department)
LBCC's theatre program with a dedicated Acting Academy AA track, media certificates in commercials, film acting, and voice-over, and a brand-new $75 million performing arts center, at $46 per unit.
Related by technique
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On-camera school for ages 2 to adult in La Crescenta, founded 2007 by Mae Ross and now under new ownership, with tiered TV commercial and scene study classes, published package pricing, and a free trial class.
Sherman OaksThe Acting Center
Sherman Oaks school founded 2006 teaching its own proprietary technique in a strictly no-criticism classroom, with published 2026 session dates and pricing for scene study, intensives, and improv.
Culver CityThe Actors Circle
Culver City workshop founded 2003 by Marcie Smolin teaching film and TV craft with improv as half the curriculum, in a positive-feedback-only room serving ages 5 through adults at published per-class rates.