SAUGUS TEENS TO FACE STATE'S BEST ORATORS AT COMPETITION.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Two aspiring actors, one of them a childhood veteran of a prime-time soap, will compete against California's best high school orators during the State Forensic Tournament on May 1-3 in Stockton.

Nathan Makaryk and Jason Goldberg, both 17 and seniors at Saugus High School, won a berth in the state championships with their recent victory at the Tri-Valley Forensic League, a regional competition held March 21 at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. The event drew participants from schools in the Santa Clarita, Antelope and San Fernando valleys.

A victory at the Stockton contest would qualify students for the National Forensic Tournament in June.

Makaryk and Goldberg, who have been on the Saugus High speech team since they were freshmen, performed a 10-minute scene from the comedy ``Pillow Talk'' to win first place in the dual interpretation category at the Tri-Valley competition. They beat out 15 other pairs in their category, Makaryk said.

They will reprise the skit, from Peter Tolan's 1991 one-act play, during the state championships.

``We're going to stay with this script and fine-tune it for a month until the competition,'' Makaryk said.

``What we're going to do for state is videotape ourselves,'' Goldberg added, saying that will help them critique themselves and iron out the kinks.

Performing comes naturally for Goldberg, who landed a role on the CBS television drama ``Falcon Crest'' when he was 2 years old. The show, which centered on the travails of a fictional family owned winery in the Napa Valley, aired from 1981 to 1990.

For five seasons, Goldberg played Joseph Gioberti, who - in typical soap opera fashion - was alternately the son of characters portrayed by series regulars Lorenzo Lamas and William R. Moses.

``I remember my first day on the set, and I think that's my oldest memory,'' Goldberg said. ``I enjoyed the fact that I got to work with professional actors and directors, and being in front of a camera was great exposure.''

He and Makaryk are natural collaborators, having competed in speech contests performing scenes from Neil Simon's ``The Odd Couple.'' Makaryk was ultra-neatnik Felix Unger and Goldberg portrayed mega-slob Oscar Madison.

Makaryk, who intends to major in drama at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said speech competitions are great training for aspiring actors.

``It defeats your stage fright,'' he said.

Forensics rules state that competitors must face the judges, not each other, noted Saugus High speech team coach Sylvia York.

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PHOTO (Color) Nathan Makaryk, left, and Jason Goldberg of Saugus High School will compete in the State Forensic Tournament in Stockton.

Myung J. Chun/Daily News