Laura's passion for theatre had begun years before high school when she was taken to see A CHORUS LINE in San Francisco. "When the curtain went up, I knew it was going to be different and wonderful." Different, that is, from young Laura’s only previous contact with performing arts - television. Wonderful because "the stage show was mystical and had a magic the TV just didn’t have. I was so blessed by having parents who took me to live theatre and even art films when I was still in grade school."

Along with a passion for performance, Laura counts herself a tireless learner. "An older friend who knew I wanted to fulfil my dream, told me, ‘If you want to earn a degree in this stuff, you’ve got to know what happens out front, behind the scenes, in the wings - everywhere inside the building.” And that was right. You can’t ask an acting company or an operating crew to do jobs you’ve never done yourself." Clearly, her own learning experience has had a major effect on the classes she teaches in the Dance and Theatre Departments at Monterey Peninsula College. One class is in jazz dance, another is a brand new course she felt strongly about and pitched to Peter DeBono and Gary Bolen, who have added it to the lineup of MPC drama options. "It’s a workshop in auditioning. It’s gone with flying colors, I’m glad to say. People of all ages are learning how you audition for dance, improv, singing and acting jobs. It’s a taste of the real world. Thank God American actors are starting to train again!"

MOST HAPPY FELLA - MPC Theatre Company

Recalling her own student days, Laura credits a remarkable Carmel High drama teacher named Diane Hardy with having "the greatest effect on my life of any other theatre person. She knew about what she was teaching. She’d worked on the original Mousketeer show and done make-up for ‘Planet of the Apes.’ She and I still meet at Longs or in the post office, and she keeps tabs on me. I don’t know how she does it, but she even knew when I went away to do shows in Vegas."

Another major learning breakthrough was working with Michael Cheek, a civilian employed to supervise U.S. Army performance and recreational activities, who was in charge of the Jewel Box Theatre at Fort Ord. "Michael offered me opportunities to do things that were a terrific training. I did them, sometimes before I was really ready, but I did them, and I watched. I’ve always learned by watching. Wherever and whenever my part is finished, I’m there, watching how it’s being done by someone else."

OH, KAY! - MPC Theatre Company

Current assignments are directing THE NUTCRACKER with Dance Kids of Monterey County at the Sunset Center, working with Carol and Alan Richmond, and performing and co-directing, with Gary Bolen next month’s SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM at MPC. The lead role in the 2000 production of George Gershwin’s OH, KAY! is what brought Laura back from her sojourn in Las Vegas. A phone call from Tom McKenzie offering her the part coincided with the illness of Laura’s father and her growing sense that it was time to return to the Monterey Peninsula and her parents.

On the preview night of OH, KAY! Laura Akard’s father died, giving that production unique bittersweet associations for her. "It certainly gave the singing of ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ an extra poignance." The show became an homage to a well-loved man who had launched a life in the theatre for the shyest girl at Carmel High School.

"I’m so thankful to him and to everyone else on this Peninsula who’s helped, taught, trained and guided me in pursuit of my dreams," says Laura Akard.

BORN YESTERDAY MPC Theatre Company