BUSINESS AS USUAL: Theater program goes through changes but keeps status quo
Stage direction Theater teacher Reed Chappell watches a scene during third period theater production. Chappell begins his second year as a director with the SHS program.
The theater department may have lost a teacher who took the one-act play to state for the past seven years with championships the last three years, but the leadership this year will keep the same type of program.
“Although there was the loss of many people, there actually wasn’t too much rebuilding to be done for the department,” theater director Reed Chappell said, “A lot of students know what to do already.”
Chappell along with new teacher Nate Maxwell will run the department much the way they learned from former Director Josh Harriman who was their theater director in high school. Chappell and Maxwell started off in the same high school, then college in Corpus Christi, and are now colleagues in the same high school.
“It’s awesome that Chappell and I are teaching at the same high school,” Maxwell said. “We talked about teaching at the same high school in college, but we thought it wouldn’t be likely. It was actually surprising that we ended up together again.”
Losing strong male actors like those who graduated in May would cause many theater programs to worry, but not Chappell or Maxwell.
“There’s actually a good balance between male and female students,” Maxwell said, “and they’re preparing for two shows right now. Annie, which has mostly females, and Fools which features mostly males.”
Sophomore Dillon Gutierrez, who went to state last year with the one-act play, said that the only big difference for him would be the new people.
“I plan to teach the new people around me and interpret what I learned from the seniors last year,” Gutierrez said. “I’ll give my everything for this school year.”
The theater department has an impressive legacy to live up to with so many state appearances and championships.
“State is still far away,” Chappell said. “We have fall shows and musicals to prepare for first.” Senior Nikki Loewen, who took best actress honors at state, said that because of the changes in the department, there will also be new experiences and opportunities. “
Although we lost a lot of experienced members, we still have great talent and potential,” Loewen said.”Really it’s not one individual; we’re one family, and we all learn together and push each other to do well. Theater wouldn’t be what it is today if it weren’t for the people in it. Although it may dramatically change, I’m excited to see where it takes us and how we will grow.”
