LATTE Theater, the La Grange Area Teen Theater Ensemble, is proud to have brought its Pfluger Empathy Movement Method of stagecraft and life development to La Grange and Chicagoland for 15 years1 We recognize the potential in each teen and the ripple effect on our community volunteers and audiences. We are grateful for making a difference in our community through performances in partnership with our local libraries, historical societies, soup kitchens, and more. We won the 2019 Illinois “Leading Age’s Honoring Excellence Award” for our community impact and our long-term intergenerational partnership with Plymouth Place.
Being “a LATTEer” means we pay it forward… and backward. It nurtures real friendships and allows a measurable impact on Stage and off. For LATTE believes in “Learning by Doing”, and champions the future of each teen and family. It creates an opportunity through high-level theatricality for teens to compete against themselves, for volunteers to laugh and create with us, to reach every member of our community through family-friendly, demanding shows for all ages, and to help us all have a safe place “to be”.
In the last 15 years, over 800 teens have been part of our program through our teen outreach, acting workshops and 45 theater shows that teach resiliency and life-skills through stagecraft. We have helped 74 volunteers and interns to full-time, paid employment. We have helped families heal and grow and form friendships. And we had 27 senior citizens who came to laugh and enjoy “the life in the kids” through being a “practice audience”. LATTE Alum have come back home to support teens they don’t even know on Stage, and our Stage Professionals share their gifts seeing the difference in growth from the first workshop to the curtain calls.
Through our quality performances, LATTE entertains with full-length comedic and dramatic shows and explores real emotions and current issues. Family dynamics, relationships, domestic violence, aging, emotional wellness and mental health, literacy, estrangement, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s, social responsibility, free will vs. comfort, and abandonment are themes we have brought to the Stage in works that range from Shakespeare through Neil Simon. These thought-provoking shows amuse and entertain our wonderful community, fuel great discussions, and give a beautiful launch point for discussions and introspection.
Thanks a LATTE for your support in making our dreams come alive on and off the Stage,
Felicia Pfluger
Founder/Artistic Director/Producer, LATTE Theater