Arts & Culture in Richardson
ENJOY THE SHOW! CELEBRATING RISD’S OUTSTANDING HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE PROGRAMS What better way to say goodbye to summer and hello to the new school year than by shining a spotlight on Richardson ISD’s topnotch high school theatre programs. You’ll find something for everyone in your family in the variety of shows these outstanding directors and their students plan to perform this year. Pearce Theatre Pearce Theatre has been entertaining audiences for fifty years. In fact, recently actors from the very first show done at Pearce came to the school and found the places they had signed their names under the stage so many years ago. During those early years, Pearce Theatre was run by the legendary director Lynn Zednick Shaw, commonly known to her students as “Zed.” She passed away in 2009, leaving the program in the capable hands of Director Heather Biddle. Biddle, a class of ‘95 Pearce graduate, has always been active in theatre, dance and performing. That the stories they tell touch lives and help people have conversations that they might not otherwise have been brave enough to undertake is what makes Biddle so proud to be involved in theatre. She states, “We give a place to all students at Pearce. I also run our adaptive needs theatre program and we make sure that ‘All Means All’ when it comes to the art and beauty and joy of theatre.” Biddle believes in “adopting” students who aren’t traditional theatre kids and providing them with a whole new world. Danezion Mills is one such student. He was, according to Biddle, a great kid with an uncertain future. She encouraged him to try theatre, which he did. However, challenges in his personal life threatened to derail his future. So Danezion was ‘adopted’ by the extended theatre family and its supporters in the community. He not only ended up attending Texas State and their top tier theatre program, earning a BFA in Theatre, but he is now living and working in Los Angeles as a professional actor. Besides positively impacting individual students, Pearce Theatre is also a pilot program, meaning that it gets firstrun shows from all the major licensing companies in New York, according to Biddle. Their most recent pilot was Mean Girls High School Version, which they took to the International Thespian Festival, otherwise known as “Nationals,” this spring. Still seven months away from the completion of its brand-new theatre, Biddle is having to be flexible and the season is still in flux. Biddle did share that the fall show will not only be a high school premiere, but in fact a regional premiere as they will perform it for the first time in the entire southern region. And in February, Pearce students will be performing in collaboration with the Richardson Theatre Collective for a children’s show, Finding Nemo Kids. Our entire family loved being part of the theatre community at Pearce High School. Theatre provided two of my sons a place where they could challenge themselves, make mistakes, learn new skills, gain confidence, and develop lifelong friendships. The program and the directors made such a positive impact on them that they are both pursuing acting in college. – Tiffany Hoodenpyle, Pearce Theatre mom Biddle is thankful to be able to continue to tell stories and be part of the community’s lives. She states, “Thanks for hanging in there with us as we travel from space to space waiting for our new theatre to open. Thanks to the incredible people at Richardson High School and the Theatre Collective for housing us so many times this past year. And to the Allen Performing Arts Center for opening their doors to us as well. Theatre is such a community and we are so blessed to be part of it.” For more information about the Pearce Theatre program, visit http://pearcetheatre.org Mean Girls Photo Credit: Amy Abney RICHARDSON THEATRE COLLECTIVE AT RICHARDSON HIGH SCHOOL Chicago Photo Credit: Cripple Bypass Photography The Theatre Magnet at Richardson High School has existed for decades. About ten years ago, it split into two different magnets—the Theatre Performance Magnet and the Technical Theatre Magnet. In 2019 the program was rebranded into the Theatre Collective at Richardson High School. According to its department chair and director Erik Archilla, its mission is to “foster an inclusive learning community of theatre artists for the purposes of profound student growth and meaningful community engagement.” The Collective operates like a college department in that each year the students learn new skills and can grow in their chosen paths. In the Technical Theatre Magnet, students focus on design, stage craft, or theatre management. In the Theatre Performance Magnet, students learn acting, then branch out into playwriting and directing. During their senior year, students choose a career path of acting, directing, playwriting, theatre education, or theatre administration. Archilla loves working with high school aged students, specifically at RHS. He says, “Our students are incredible. They are so eager to learn more, and it is so exciting to see the lightbulbs go off in their brains when they get a concept. The amount of growth we see from freshmen to senior year is incredible. And watching them take ownership of their work is truly inspiring… It gives me goosebumps every time and I am so stinkin’ proud of each of them.” He is also proud that fourteen Collective students who won superiors at the Texas Thespian Festival and qualified to compete at Thespian Nationals this past summer. All of the Collective’s directors are working professionals in their field and bring real-world experiences to the classroom. They also share their networking connections with their students. Archilla says, “I think one of the things I am most proud of is that we have had many of our students go on to become theatre teachers themselves, some even in RISD. One of our directors, Emily Whitman, graduated from our program.” Whitman enthusiastically states, “Theatre kids are SO. MUCH. FUN. There is never a dull day at
Richardson’s Sesquicentennial
The City of Richardson hosted an exciting Sesquicentennial celebration and Richardson Life Magazine’s summer intern, Reed Granger, covered it. Reed is a rising sophomore at Syracuse University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the Maxwell School fo Citizenship and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Science in Photography at the Newhouse School of Public Communications. Reed grew up in Richardson and has deep roots here. Photo credit for this “scrapbook” belongs to Reed, who states, “Richardson’s 150th anniversary celebration reminds me of the experience I had growing up in this city. I think all of us need to encounter the range of individuals I met and organizations I interacted with at the Sesquicentennial. I saw the Richardson Community Band performing songs for all ages, learned about water marbling and cultural harmony from the Dialogue Institute, and watched Mayor Bob Dubey and the CIty Council place items into a time capsule, which will be opened in 2073. Through these images, I hope that you can see the collective love we share for this place we live. On this day, we celebrated our joy, diversity and long-lasting ability to make this city a home for all of its residents. As a photographer, I aimed to capture this unity. The city of Richardson truly is remarkable.”
Gary Tittle (Chief of Police Richardson Police Department)
I was born in Texarkana, but my parents moved to the metroplex when I was one and I grew up in Murphy. Mom and Dad both worked for the postal service; Mom retired from the Richardson post office, Dad from the Garland post office. While we didn’t live in Richardson, we did a lot of business here and spent time in the area.
Richardson Reads One Book
RICHARDSON’S ANNUAL LITERARY EVENT What do these characters all have in common? • A philosophical dog who loves racing in the rain • A Japanese boy and a Chinese girl who fall in love during WWII • Nine people who are trapped in a collapsed building after an earthquake • Four undocumented Mexican American students and two great teachers who enter a robot building contest • A Texas ranger who tries to solve two racial homicides • A clever octopus who brings family members together Hopefully, you’ve guessed it—they are all characters from a Richardson Reads One Book selection—a program that is now in its nineteenth year. Through an engaging author lecture, Richardson Reads One Book aims to: • Stimulate an interest in the pleasure and the importance of reading • Encourage citizens of the richly diverse Richardson community to come together to openly discuss a selected book and the issues it raises. The Richardson Public Library joined with various other organizations in Richardson to hold the first annual Richardson Reads One Book author lecture in September 2004 and it repeats in September every year because it is National Literacy Month This year’s selection, Remarkably Bright Creatures, is a delightful return to the tradition. If you haven’t read the book, here’s a taste from the author’s website: “After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-yearold son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound more than thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late. Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.” Shelby Van Pelt grew up in Tacoma, Washington, and loved the aquarium at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium from an early age. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and children now, but her debut novel is still set in the Pacific Northwest where Van Pelt grew up. As a literary program that attracts national and international best-selling authors to our city, Richardson Reads One Book is a singular, successful program in our community. Perhaps our 2012 One Book author, Chitra Divakaruni, said it best: “I believe strongly in the power of story in creating community. It is when we learn about the core of the lives of strangers that they become family to us.” Please join us at this year’s Richardson Reads One Book event at First United Methodist Church Richardson on Tuesday, September 26 at 7:30 pm. Free tickets will be available at Heights and Huffhines Recreation Centers and the Richardson Senior Center beginning Tuesday, September 5. Check out our website at http://cor.net/onebook, like us on Facebook @RROBTX, or follow us on Instagram @richardsonreadsonebook. RROB Shadow box event
Chelsea Jacobs (Owner, Yellow House Story Shoppe)
My name is Chelsea Jacobs and I have had the joy of running my little bookshop since 2019. After hosting book weekends in my home, I moved to a booth in Richardson’s Cottonwood Market in 2020 and have since opened a second location in the coffee shop at Central Commons in Highland Park. I can also be found online at http://yellowhousestoryshoppe.com.