With experiences in theater arts dating to their childhood, Douglas McCallum and Michael Norrell were eager to become involved in Natchez Little Theatre as acting teachers.

The partners, new to Natchez, are conducting adult classes at the theater on Linton Avenue. &uot;We’re hoping the classes will go on to different levels,&uot; McCallum said. &uot;And in the future, we also would like to try a Saturday workshop.&uot;

The Wednesday evening classes have gone very well, the two agreed. &uot;Everybody seems excited,&uot; McCallum said. &uot;We’ve studied all kinds of methods, and we’re trying to bring all we know into the acting classes here.&uot;

Norrell added, &uot;They are learning that the actor does more than stand there reciting words.&uot;

In addition to their teaching, the two men have joined the cast of &uot;Kiss Me Kate,&uot; with the opening performance on June 9.

Coming to Natchez from California, they fell in love with the city on a visit in 2000. Both have positions that allow them to live wherever they wish. They opted for Natchez a year ago.

&uot;We’re very excited about living here,&uot; Norrell said. He loves the authenticity of the setting. &uot;Natchez has not been over gentrified or exploited,&uot; he said. &uot;Our friends are envious we can live in a place with living, breathing history.&uot;

They purchased a historic house and began renovating it right away. &uot;Years and years of working on movies has damaged us. We’ve been here seven months, and the house is not finished. We’re used to having an antebellum house going up in two days,&uot; Norrell said.

Norrell is a California native, reared in a musical family and cast in his first stage roles in two operas when he was 7 years old.

With a BFA from UCLA’s prestigious School of Motion Picture and Television Studies, he began working on motion pictures and television series. Some of those include &uot;Out of Africa,&uot; &uot;Miami Vice,&uot; &uot;Simon and Simon,&uot; &uot;Diagnosis Murder&uot; and &uot;Murder One.&uot; He was script coordinator on &uot;NYPD Blue,&uot; where he worked closely with David Milch.

He attended the famed Stella Adler Academy in Hollywood and has performed in many classic and contemporary plays.

Since 1999, Norrell has been classical director of Music Minus One, where he has overseen and produced a far-ranging series of recordings including opera, concerti and chamber music.

McCallum, a writer, actor and director, is a first-generation Californian with Southern roots traced through his New Orleans-born mother.

His acting experience began when he was 14, leading him to a study of dramatics at the University of Southern California, Pasadena City College, New York University and the University of California, Berkeley, where he also graduated with a degree in English literature.

McCallum has acted in and directed in many classics, including &uot;Pygmalion,&uot; &uot;Arms and the Man,&uot; &uot;Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,&uot; &uot;A Streetcar Named Desire,&uot; &uot;Long Day’s Journey Into the Night&uot; and others.

Like Norrell, he studied at the Stella Adler Academy, where he created and directed his most recent production, the Los Angeles debut of &uot;Crimes of Passion.&uot;

His projects have included work on &uot;Matlock,&uot; &uot;Perry Mason,&uot; &uot;Brooklyn South,&uot; &uot;Sabrina the Teenage Witch,&uot; &uot;The Equalizer&uot; and &uot;Murder She Wrote&uot; as well as on feature films such as &uot;Jurassic Park,&uot; &uot;Always&uot; and &uot;Schindler’s List.&uot;

Working steadily in Hollywood as a writer and researcher, he now owns Castle Research Inc., which provides services to feature films and television series. He also is at work on a novel, which he describes as &uot;set in Hollywood’s dark side.&uot;