Wayland Town Crier 4/29/10: Spotlight Productions back for third year at St. Julia. When it came to choosing an honors thesis for his theater arts degree at Brandeis University, Harley Yanoff said he "didn’t see how simply putting on a play would further my career," as all his peers were doing. So he pitched the idea of summer theater workshops as an honors thesis. He didn’t expect to actually open one but the project snowballed and became a reality. In the MetroWest area, where parents are always on the lookout for somewhere fun to send their children each summer, Yanoff has set himself apart. The workshops at Spotlight Productions are two three-week sessions which have developed a strong fan base. His participant-to-staff ratio stresses one-on-one instruction besides group work and his young staff appeals to kids.