Damien Lorton
Damien has had a passion for the arts since he can remember, both onstage as a performer, as well as offstage by dreaming of his own production company. The thought of producing was never far from sight, and although the idea had been kicked around a few times over the years, it had never taken flight until now, when Damien found Nicole Cassesso to possess the same passion for the arts as himself.
Damien grew up on stage becoming a seasoned performer while touring the United States, Canada, and Europe as a child. He learned at a young age to love the audience and his craft, yet he felt something was missing. He continued his studies privately with the late Richard Dastrup, and was then introduced to more intensive studies at the Orange County High School of the Arts. While working along side such classmates as Susan Egan (original Belle on Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast"), Stephanie Block (starring opposite of Hugh Jackman in "The Boy From Oz"), Becca Ayers (Off-Broadway's "Sarah, Plain and Tall" and "The Third Person"), Kamilah Martin (Broadway's "Rent" and "Hairspray"), and Terron Brooks (Broadway's "Hairspray" and "The Lion King") he honed in on his art and began a love affair with directing.
Studying under such great artists as Laura Freed and Cherie Hodgeson Armstrong, in addition to master classes with Uta Hagen, Bebe Neuwirth, and Seth Green, he dramatically sharpened his skills. Damien went on to share the stage with such icons as Bob Hope, Art Linkletter, Gwen Verdon, Wayne Newton, John Candy, Phyllis Diller, Nathan Lane, and Carroll O'Connor just to name a few.
He performed in San Francisco to sold out houses for over three years, headlining in the Knott Hole's La Cage Review, until the news of an ailing parent brought Damien back home to Orange County, California.
Upon his father's recovery, Damien became active in a local community theatre. His first role was starting out as an usher, but within three years Damien was running the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse as an Artistic Director. While taking the Playhouse to new heights, winning both critical acclaim and personal triumphs, Tom Titus in 2001 named Damien "Man of the Year" in theatre. He was also voted one of the top 101 most influential people in Costa Mesa/Newport Beach for two consecutive years on behalf of his work in the arts. During his tenure at the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, Damien turned out more than twenty-five full-scale plays and musicals, co-founded the Multi Cultural Children's Outreach Program, and brought the arts to more than fifty thousand audience members.
Since his first full-scale musical in 1998, Damien has directed and/or musically directed over 50 productions throughout Southern California, winning rave reviews and significant acclamations from the press. Some of his most favorite mountings have been:
- Fiddler on the Roof (Show of the Year, Daily Pilot 1999)
- Gypsy! (Show of the Year, Daily Pilot 2000)
- Into the Woods (One of the Top 10 Best Shows in Orange County, O.C. Register 2001)
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (One of the Top 10 Best Shows in Orange County, O.C. Register 2001)
- A Chorus Line (One of the top 10 best shows in Orange County, O.C. Register 2002)
- A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum
- She Loves Me!
- Grease
- Smile
- Bye Bye Birdie
- Damn Yankees
- Sound of Music
- Once Upon A Mattress
- Nunsense
- Rags
- Bells are Ringing
- You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Damien continues his vocal studies with voice teacher Jill Grande-Goodsell.