Playground Players Productions<\/a>, in 2016 and took over Edudance Classrooms in Motion, a children\u2019s ballroom dance company, in 2018.<\/p>\nOn top all of that, she\u2019s a professional baker.<\/p>\n
Bueno met the young performers she later chose as cast members for \u201cFinding Nemo Kids\u201d during Jan. 15 auditions, for which the second- through eighth-graders signed up via their parents. The session was spent going through the play\u2019s script.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey got to sing and dance and know the music. I then gave everyone a snippet of a song they had to sing for the next time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
At the next meeting, Bueno and her team determined the casting.<\/p>\n
The leads for \u201cFinding Nemo Kids\u201d are Pablo Ornelas as Nemo, Zevin Einhorn as Marlin and Poppy Card as Dory, a forgetful blue tang fish who befriends the pair.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Finding-Nemo-leads.jpg\")
The lead actors for \u201cFinding Nemo Kids\u201d are (from left) Pablo Ornelas as Nemo, Poppy Card as Dory and Zevin Einhorn as Marlin. (ActLiveNow, Coco Sein)<\/p>\n
The leads and most of the other cast members know one another, since they attend Warren-Walker School at the Point Loma-Ocean Beach boundary.<\/p>\n
The cast is meeting once a week for two hours during eight rehearsal sessions ending March 5. Then the troupe will have two public performances March 6 and 8.<\/p>\n
Bueno said she \u201ctends to stage things very quickly\u201d and expects the youngsters to practice at home on their own.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a schedule that suits 12-year-old Zevin. \u201cI don\u2019t really like sitting at home and not being busy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The sixth-grader already has been cast in five plays at her school and portrayed Peter Pan in ActLiveNow\u2019s summer camp production.<\/p>\n
Last year she appeared in a production of \u201cWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of like playing being worried, and my [\u2018Finding Nemo\u2019] character is always worried,\u201d Zevin said of Marlin. \u201cMy character has a decent amount of lines and scenes, lots of being on the stage, and I\u2019m pretty good at memorizing.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a dozen kids in the cast, each one \u2014 other than the three leading actors \u2014 plays multiple roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the kids want to be here, they will memorize and learn their stuff very quickly,\u201d Bueno said. \u201cAnd they will be super busy doing lots of stuff since so many kids have multiple roles. They might be a fish, a shark and a seagull.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Cast](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Nemo1.jpeg\")
Cast and crew members of \u201cFinding Nemo Kids,\u201d a musical version of the 2003 animated movie, gather for a rehearsal as they prepare for two public performances in March in Point Loma. (Coco Sein)<\/p>\n
Bueno, who is married with a 12-year-old son, a 14-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old daughter, said each of her kids has been involved in many of her productions, including a world-premiere opera she performed recently with her eldest daughter.<\/p>\n
Bueno said she usually forms strong bonds with the kids she teaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am looked on like their teacher but they also confide in me,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m the parental figure when the parents aren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her production team includes stage manager Sara Dailey, production manager Coco Sein and assistant director Adelina Rocha.<\/p>\n
Rocha attests to Bueno\u2019s ability to work with the younger set, especially since Bueno began mentoring her years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was about 8 years old, I became really interested in musical theater,\u201d Rocha said. Her mother ran into Bueno, and beginning in 2011, Rocha began taking voice lessons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took voice lessons from Laura for about seven years, and she taught me everything about singing and performing and even helped me get my first professional theater job,\u201d Rocha said.<\/p>\n
Later, Rocha attended UC Santa Cruz and then moved back to San Diego last year. She learned Bueno was hiring and quickly began working for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very fun, especially since so much of my training has come from her,\u201d Rocha said. \u201cAll the things she has taught me, I have taught the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poppy, 11, hopes to continue performing after her stint as Dory in \u201cFinding Nemo Kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the play \u201cgoes really good \u2014 if I don\u2019t forget any lines and it all goes like it\u2019s supposed to \u2014 I will do more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Having performed in three previous plays \u2014 but none in a big role \u2014 \u201cthis time I was going to do good in my audition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She describes Dory as \u201cmy favorite because she\u2019s so funny and is one of the main characters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poppy said her favorite parts of performing are \u201chaving a lot of friends doing the same show\u201d and \u201cknowing there is a whole audience watching you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zevin said she\u2019s \u201cmost looking forward to doing the play live and seeing everyone perform at their best.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a small theater and really intimate, so kids will be able to get lost in the action,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s short, so younger kids won\u2019t have to sit for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bueno said she believes \u201cFinding Nemo Kids\u201d will resonate with local residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the perfect show to do by the ocean and for the local community,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd seeing these very talented kids singing and dancing in their cute costumes \u2014 it will be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Finding Nemo Kids\u2019<\/p>\n
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 8<\/p>\n
Where: Portuguese Hall, 2818 Avenida de Portugal, Point Loma<\/p>\n
Cost: $12 for general admission, $8 for guests 15 and younger<\/p>\n
Tickets and information: actlivenow.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With catchy songs, fun dances and actors playing multiple parts, the beloved animated movie \u201cFinding Nemo\u201d will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[2579,34178,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-179192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-point-loma-ob-monthly","tag-point-loma-ob-monthly-things-to-do","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Cast](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/INemo3.jpeg\")
Cast members of \u201cFinding Nemo Kids\u201d find plenty to talk about in weekly rehearsals, with most of them learning multiple parts. (Coco Sein)<\/p>\n