About
Creative Youth Theatre is a program of ArtsUP! LA that takes place at The Blue Door, a venue operated by ArtsUP! LA. The Blue Door includes rehearsal space and a 50-seat theater that is used for performing arts activities with Los Angeles-based youth, artists with disabilities, and military veterans. The program is connected to ArtsUP! LA’s work with theatre education in Los Angeles, including programs for youth with Autism and Asperger.
Creative Youth Theatre is part of ArtsUP! LA, a nonprofit performing arts organization that serves artists with disabilities, military veterans, and Los Angeles-based youth. ArtsUP! LA states that The Blue Door welcomes all to experience how the performing arts can enhance self-esteem, encourage self-expression, and empower individuals to overcome the challenges in their lives, and that it removes barriers to participation and provides possibilities for artistic expression while building diverse artists and audiences.
The leadership team for Creative Youth Theatre includes Bryan Caldwell (Co-Founder, Executive Director), Greg Shane (Co-Founder, Artistic Director), and Colin Simson (Co-Founder, Chief Creative Officer). Program staff also includes Alexis Farrington-Gallardo (Program Coordinator, Creative Youth Theatre), and teaching artists Guilford Adams, Natalie Fryman, Malena Hougen, and Jennifer Seifert.
Bryan received his B.A. from Tulane University in 2000, has over 30 years of acting experience, has performed at the Promenade Playhouse, the Stella Adler Theater, and the Culver City Public Theater, and completed a residency at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts working with their Theatre Academy on adult and children’s curriculum. He has taught theatre for Los Angeles-based students for over ten years, including programs for youth with Autism and Asperger, and has directed programs in Inglewood at Crozier Middle School and Frank Parent School with curriculum focused on at-risk youth. Greg Shane received his B.A. in theatre from Tulane University and his M.A. in Educational Theatre from the Steinhardt School at NYU, and since 2003 has taught theatre and brought performing arts and arts therapy programs to cities including London, Dublin, Puerto Rico, and locations in Brazil.
Colin is a Boston native and a graduate of Tufts University who has worked since 1994 with programs in Boston and Los Angeles to conceive, write, and produce hundreds of original children’s theater productions and movies. Alexis has worked in the performing arts since 2016, has produced concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, managed several of their young artist programs, and is pursuing a Masters of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona. Guilford Adams has been a teaching artist at ArtsUP! LA since 2020 and is the owner and Chief Executive Clown of the Los Angeles Clown Company, with experience performing for over fifty thousand kids and four thousand parties over twenty-five years as a clown.
Natalie Fryman earned her BA in Drama from Vassar College and her MA in Music Theatre (with distinction) from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and works as a stage, film, and TV industry professional; she performed in The Speakeasy Society’s production of The Kansas Collection: The Portal, which received “Best Immersive Narrative” in Immersion Nation’s 2019 Immersion Awards. Malena holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and previously worked for over a decade as a writer and producer in television newsrooms in New York and Los Angeles, including several ABC and FOX affiliates. Jennifer Seifert is a Jack Nicholson Scholarship Award winner and alumnus of the University of Southern California, a certified life coach, actress, writer, and teaching artist, and an Ovation Award–winning actress.
ArtsUP! LA also presents the CRxEATIVITY Festival in Los Angeles, which focuses on healing through creative outlets.
Last updated July 13, 2026.
Creative Youth Theatre is part of ArtsUP! LA, a nonprofit performing arts organization that serves artists with disabilities, military veterans, and Los Angeles-based youth. ArtsUP! LA states that The Blue Door welcomes all to experience how the performing arts can enhance self-esteem, encourage self-expression, and empower individuals to overcome the challenges in their lives, and that it removes barriers to participation and provides possibilities for artistic expression while building diverse artists and audiences.
The leadership team for Creative Youth Theatre includes Bryan Caldwell (Co-Founder, Executive Director), Greg Shane (Co-Founder, Artistic Director), and Colin Simson (Co-Founder, Chief Creative Officer). Program staff also includes Alexis Farrington-Gallardo (Program Coordinator, Creative Youth Theatre), and teaching artists Guilford Adams, Natalie Fryman, Malena Hougen, and Jennifer Seifert.
Bryan received his B.A. from Tulane University in 2000, has over 30 years of acting experience, has performed at the Promenade Playhouse, the Stella Adler Theater, and the Culver City Public Theater, and completed a residency at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts working with their Theatre Academy on adult and children’s curriculum. He has taught theatre for Los Angeles-based students for over ten years, including programs for youth with Autism and Asperger, and has directed programs in Inglewood at Crozier Middle School and Frank Parent School with curriculum focused on at-risk youth. Greg Shane received his B.A. in theatre from Tulane University and his M.A. in Educational Theatre from the Steinhardt School at NYU, and since 2003 has taught theatre and brought performing arts and arts therapy programs to cities including London, Dublin, Puerto Rico, and locations in Brazil.
Colin is a Boston native and a graduate of Tufts University who has worked since 1994 with programs in Boston and Los Angeles to conceive, write, and produce hundreds of original children’s theater productions and movies. Alexis has worked in the performing arts since 2016, has produced concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, managed several of their young artist programs, and is pursuing a Masters of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona. Guilford Adams has been a teaching artist at ArtsUP! LA since 2020 and is the owner and Chief Executive Clown of the Los Angeles Clown Company, with experience performing for over fifty thousand kids and four thousand parties over twenty-five years as a clown.
Natalie Fryman earned her BA in Drama from Vassar College and her MA in Music Theatre (with distinction) from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and works as a stage, film, and TV industry professional; she performed in The Speakeasy Society’s production of The Kansas Collection: The Portal, which received “Best Immersive Narrative” in Immersion Nation’s 2019 Immersion Awards. Malena holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and previously worked for over a decade as a writer and producer in television newsrooms in New York and Los Angeles, including several ABC and FOX affiliates. Jennifer Seifert is a Jack Nicholson Scholarship Award winner and alumnus of the University of Southern California, a certified life coach, actress, writer, and teaching artist, and an Ovation Award–winning actress.
ArtsUP! LA also presents the CRxEATIVITY Festival in Los Angeles, which focuses on healing through creative outlets.
Last updated July 13, 2026.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.