Shaker Theatre Arts Department
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The Shaker Theatre Arts Department, founded in its present form by former Artistic Director James Thornton, is an educational department of Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio and has been designated a Center of Excellence in Education by the National Council of Teachers of English.[1] Its Department Chair is Christine McBurney.
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[edit] Program Focus
The Shaker Theatre Arts Program focuses on six major areas of Theatre Experience.
1. An Ensemble Actor Training Program which focuses on developing concepts of "ensemble" performance through Shaker's Junior, Advanced, and Senior Ensembles with training culminating in ambitious large-scale theatre productions such as the annual Spring Ensemble Show and also through a production philosophy which provides large groups of students with performance opportunities in such productions as an annual Fall Main Stage Production which has featuered shows as Man of La Mancha, Our Town, Pippin, and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
2. A Writing Program which stresses student involvement in all areas of production writing as well as Playwriting. Each year a full production of the works of Shaker students, alumni, and staff are mounted and several performances are given in the New Stages: Shaker Playwrights and Driectors Series. These productions are student directed and produced in a seminar workshop atmosphere in the Stage 3 Theatre, with staff coaching and guidance. The Ninth Grade Theatre Experience (recognized nationally and presented in conference for the National Conference of Teachers of English) annually produces a fully staged student-written ensemble piece.
3. A Guest Artist and Alumni Program which links students, artists, alumni, and faculty into a focused sharing experience. Outside professionals from every area of the theatre share their skills and expertise in workshops, master classes, lectures, discussions, and productions.
4. The Shakespeare Learning Program involves ongoing production and study of general theatre classics through the second semester course offering of Shakescenes, in which such plays as Hamlet, Three Musketeers, The Orestia, and The Skin of Our Teeth have been studied. The study of Shakespeare specifically through fully mounted department productions such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night also enhances the learning experience.
5. Production Training offers students the unique opportunity for exposure at nearly every level of "front of house" and general theatre management operation. Studies combined with practical experience in areas as diverse as handling flight arrangements for guest artists, to preparing copy for print, to handling records. Several jobs, such as General Department Manager, Ensemble Coordinator, Patron and Alumni Liaison, and Playbill Coordinator are major responsibilities and may earn Honors Level Course Credit through the class Theatre Production Seminar (T.P.S.). Several less demanding, but significant opportunities round out a truly unique aspect of Shaker Theatre Program offerings and the Shaker Theatre Production Team.
6. The Technical Studies Program, with two professional designers on staff, includes classes of Stagecraft and the co-curricular Stage Crew and costume assistance. This program informs students and weds them to hands-on experience. With an auditorium facility, the small, intimate black box Stage 3 Theatre, and a very full and varied production season that utilizes these and other spaces, students enjoy a potential that is simply not available in most high schools. This program includes elements of lighting, design, props, costumes and building and mounting a production.
[edit] Annual Season
The Shaker Theatre Arts Department has an annual season of nine or more productions a year including:
- The Ensemble Preview introduces the season of new Ensembles in a demonstration performance.
- The Fall Main Stage Production is Shaker Theatre's largest production in terms of cast size, production team and time commitment, offering the most varied opportunities for involvement. This show generally alternates yearly between musicals and non-musical plays.
- The Winter Solstice is a Senior Ensemble and alumni showcase. New Ensemble work is previewed.
- Theatre III Improv Show is a culmination of class activities in finer points of improvisational theatre and the performance is chacterized by audience participation.
- New Stages provides students the opportunity to produce, direct and performs plays written by their peers. New Stages is performed in Shaker Theatre's intimate black box Stage 3 Theatre.
- The Ninth Grade Theatre Experience is a fully staged production experience tailored to the freshman who form the company. This venture is designed as non-threatening with students writing and creating together. The script evolves from writing workshops and offers students an opportunity to work with upperclassmen, Theatre Staff, and Guest Artists all who support, assist, and direct.
- The Spring Ensemble Show is the translation of Ensemble vocabulary to a collaborative main stage production. The Senior Ensemble members, featured along with the Junior and Advanced Ensemble members and often Alumni and Guest Artists, perform a series of movement pieces interspersed with music, prose, and poetry; all fused into a unqiue theatre experience.
- Shakescenes is an audition/application based class that focuses on classical theatre. The class meets daily Second Semester with rehearsals and studies culmination in t final class performance in May.
- Theatre Awards closes and celebrates the season. The program includes department awards presentation, Thespian recognition and induction ceremony, student and guest artist performances, and speeches with a reception.
[edit] Notable Alumni
Several notable alumni have graduated from the Shaker Theatre Arts Department including David Wain, a New-York based writer, director, actor, and comedian who is most well known for the feature film Wet Hot American Summer, the 90s sketch comedy series The State, and the Comedy Central show Stella. Tony-nominee Michael McElroy[2], who is best known for his roles as Collins in Rent (musical) and Jim in the original cast of Big River (musical), and Broadway actress Michelle Federer, who is best known for her role as Nessarose in the original cast of Wicked (musical), are both alumni of the department, as is Emmy-award winner David Pogue, technology correspondent for the New York Times, and filmmaker Louis Schechter.
