An education in the arts, while exceedingly beneficial, can be prohibitively expensive. There are plenty of excellent pay-to-play youth programs for artistically ambitious children in Santa Barbara, but a group of local high school students have made it their mission to bring affordable performance training to S.B. kids. Called Tomato Theatre Company, this nonprofit, started in 2022, is run entirely by high schoolers. They offer free seasonal programming, including an annual summer camp, for children (grades 1-6) interested in theater and choir.
Abby Selzler is a student at Dos Pueblos High School and Tomato Theatre Company’s secretary. “We’re keeping everything affordable and accessible,” she says, citing the barrier of high-cost programming that kept members of her cohort from an arts education during their formative years. “A lot of us got started late. This program is helping raise the next group of kids like me — and maybe it’ll be easier for them because they started earlier.”
Selzler praises the generational continuation built into Tomato’s social structure, noting that many students who age out of the program come back in junior high as camp counselor trainees, and then join the program as volunteers once they enter high school. While many of the students currently involved are from Dos Pueblos, Tomato invites students from every local school to become involved — the organization offers plenty of opportunities for teaching, performance design, writing, outreach, and management.
This fall, Tomato will present a multi-disciplinary showcase for elementary-school kids looking to advance and share their skills in singing, dancing, acting, and other performance-based artforms. This “Jamboree” program consists of weekly rehearsals leading up to the late-fall performance. Email the company (sbtomatotheatre@gmail.com) to register young thespians or chanteurs for the program and secure their place in this community performance. See tomatotheatreco.org.
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