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 work, that is for sure. I know I’m making an impact on a student when they seek me out for advice…or a student’s behavior gradually improves to meet my expectations…or a student sarcastically jokes around with me. It’s a bunch of little things that add up to let me know I’m doing something right.”
The Theatre Collective’s 2023-24 season theme is “What a Disaster.” They start with The Play That Goes Wrong in October. Their January musical will be The Spongebob Musical! The UIL Competition Play takes a more serious turn with A Piece of My Heart, a play about the Vietnam War. The Collective welcomes their sophomore magnet students to perform Finding Nemo Kids. and their season wraps up with freshmen magnet students joining them for Metamorphoses
Visit http://rhstheatrecollective.org for more information and show schedules.
Into the Woods
Photo credit: Nicole Kopec
Chicago
Photo credit: Cripple Bypass Photography
LAKE HIGHLANDS HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE
The Lake Highlands Drama Club started in 1966, at least that was the first mention of it in the vintage yearbooks Director Julie Bryan scoured to find historical information about the Lake Highlands theatre program. Bryan, an East Dallas native who grew up close to Lake Highlands, is brand-new to LHHS but not to teaching. She previously directed at her alma mater, DISD’s Bryan Adams High School. Today, says Bryan, the purpose of the Lake Highlands Theatre Department (LHTD) is “to empower individuals to tell stories through the powerful medium of self-expression. Through engaging theatrical productions, the department nurtures and celebrates the unique voices of its members.”
Bryan wants students to believe in and trust in their own abilities and become lifelong learners. She reflects, “As participants engage in the creative process, they not only refine their artistic skills but also build strong connections and a sense of community. Each production is a unique journey, offering opportunities for growth and self-discovery, making theatre a truly life-changing experience for everyone it embraces.”
Singin’ in the Rain
Photo credit: Tanya Bowen
Queens
Photo credit: Tanya Bowen
She also loves her students’ ideas and finds that students often have insight or inspiration that she would have never even considered. When working as an ensemble, Bryan says, “we have the opportunity to build a production together from page to stage. When my students put forth suggestions for scenes or designs changes, those suggestions can make a moment in the play deeper and more meaningful.”
Bryan reminisces fondly about a student who left a lasting impression as many students do. The young man struggled with confidence in his designs and would even throw them away before she had an opportunity to give him direction. In time, she discovered his natural talent for sound design. When they did the production of a steam punk Peter Pan, he planned every moment, every sound effect and gear noise, and even the music for intermission.
Ultimately Bryan appointed him to leadership positions in her department and he became her strongest technician, rising to every occasion and “leading the younger technicians with the same gusto of a sergeant leading a battalion into battle,” recalls Bryan. She is excited to find her next “surprise” leader.
Momma Mia
Photo credit: Tanya Bowen
Lake Highlands has several exciting shows coming up this year, the first of which is CLUE, to be performed the second weekend in October, followed by a Theatre for Young Audiences performance in November. In the spirit of the holidays, the group will put on Ebeneezer Scrooge in December. The Little Mermaid will kick off the spring schedule, followed by a UIL One Act Play public performance in March. The play will be announced later this year.
For more information about the Lake Highlands theatre program, go to http://lhhstheatre.membershiptoolkit.com
BERKNER HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE
Suessical the Musical
Photo credit: Timothy Spencer
The Berkner Rams’ theatre program was founded in 1969. Carla Unkenholtz served as director for thirty years before retiring. After having an interim director for a year, Dr. Jill Hotz took over and has led the group ever since. “We put the Ram in dRAMa,” says Hotz. When asked what makes Berkner’s program unique, Hotz reflected that their fine arts department functions like a family in that choir, band, orchestra and theatre work collaboratively and well together.
Hotz’s greatest joy, she says, is “taking kids with zero confidence and getting them to do things that they have only imagined. We give them those opportunities.” Everyone involved in the program has a heart for the students— they want them to learn and stretch themselves in unexpected ways. States Hotz, “Berkner is a melting pot. We have everything from religious to economic to racial diversity. Hairspray was my first show to direct and that was an incredibly true representation of our school.”
According to Hotz, it’s easy to hook kids into theater and they are willing to sacrifice time and Saturdays to be a part of it. Another aspect of Berkner’s program is that their technical theatre side is strong as well. If a student starts out acting but discovers a preference for lighting or sound or any other technical aspect, change is easy and the student is given a new outlet to showcase that talent. Speaking of discovering talents, Berkner’s tech director, Ed Twiss, was initially a parent volunteer who discovered a love for the technical side of the shows. He is now building a topnotch tech theater program.
Hotz loves the fact that “theater kids are never boring and tend to overexaggerate. No one ever has a headache…it’s always a throbbing migraine. And there’s never a dull moment.” Hotz’s affection for her students is mirrored in her students’ admiration for her.
The Wiz
Photo credit: Timothy Spencer
She shared that many of her students pay her the highest compliment by expressing a desire to be a teacher…specifically, a theater teacher just like her.
In addition to preparing for their fall show, Chemical Imbalance, the theatre will be gearing up for its annual haunted house, which is held at the school the weekend before Halloween. Students participate in the “haunting” and all monies raised at the event are used for costumes, props and anything else Hotz and her team need throughout the year. Their major fine arts production this school year will be Spamalot, performed the first weekend in February, followed by Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, a festival sith songs, turkey legs, a rummage sale and more!
For more information about the Rams’ theatre program, visit @berkner_theatre on Instagram
Addams Family
Photo credit: Timothy Spencer
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