Studio shares passion for performing
July 9th, 2008
From the [Torrance, CA] Daily Breeze:
Luke Zimmerman, an actor with Down syndrome appearing in the ABC Family series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” got his start at Performing Arts Studio West of Inglewood, California. The studio trains adults with developmental disabilities in acting, singing, dancing and production.
Studio members have been cast in more than 800 roles, and the studio produces full-scale musical comedies. In addition, studio employees represent the actors by posting the clients’ resumes and headshots, training them for auditions, acting as manager and agent, and accompanying them on set.
[Founder John] Paizis says the benefit of the studio is that it provides directors with a professionally trained disabled person instead of actors just portraying people with disabilities.


