In the past year, I joined a Facebook group for High School Theatre Directors. It has proven to be quite enlightening to read what other theatre educators across the country have to say about the theatre programs at their schools. Of course there are those schools who have an exorbitant budget and can stage incredibly lavish shows that we can only dream of here at Concordia. There are also those schools who have to scrape together every dime they can to be able to have a set and a few lights for their show. There are schools begging for suggestions for shows with casts that are largely female, as they struggle to find guys who can help carry their programs. And then you have the directors who find little or no support within their school buildings. They struggle with the athletic program, with the administrators and even with the parents. Some even have openly defiant students who actively work to damage their programs from within.
As I read all of these posts, placed by talented, well-meaning, hard-working theatre teachers, I cannot help but feel blessed. I have read portions of these posts to some of my theatre students and shared again and again how fortunate I am to be able to teach at a school like Concordia High School. We are definitely not problem free here, but as in many situations in life, our struggles seem far less significant when compared with what others have to live with daily.
We are able to mount five quality productions each year, where many others are lucky to get two shows produced. This past year, for probably the first time in CLHS history, we have had more guys than girls audition for each of our shows, with about 60-70 students auditioning each time. We have support for what we do, not only internally, but also from the parents and community, who attend our shows and help to financially support us. We have students who have built a theatre community within our school, including anyone who decides they might like to venture into our program. I am blessed with a theatre staff of highly talented, hard-working Christian role models who work hand in hand with me to help create experiences for the students that they will not soon forget.
So, thank you! Thanks for your prayers, your support and for attending our shows! I am very blessed to be a part of the Fine Arts program at Concordia and very thankful for the opportunities I get each day to “live the dream.”
Chris Murphy,
Director of Drama