“Student Driven Theatre” has been the mantra of our department since I was a student here. It has been a point of pride for me since I began teaching here a few years ago, and is also, conveniently, my natural approach to directing. When students have ownership over their Art, the results are always better than they would have been otherwise.
The decision to switch up the flow (see what I did there?) of our season and add a musical in the fall was a pretty simple one, but it would not have even entered our minds as an option if it weren’t for our students. For weeks, I’d been hearing our students talk about SIX, and beg us to do it. I wasn’t surprised; this is a very popular show, with an entirely female cast - and I can count the number of male performers in our department on fewer than two hands. But my response was always the same: No. For two reasons: 1 - The cast is too small! There aren’t enough opportunities to offer. 2 - The rights are probably unavailable, and even if they were, the cost would be astronomical!
Enter Christian Anderson.
During the run of Spongebob last year, the topic of producing SIX came up yet again, and I gave my same responses. Christian’s rebuttal? “There’s actually a teen edition available.”
So, I began my research.
1. Is there, in fact, a Teen Edition available? Check.
2. Do we have the talent pool available in our department to be
able to cast the show? Obviously.
3. Does the show have enough opportunities to offer to our
student musicians? Oof.
Because of that last one, we knew it couldn’t be our big musical this year. But we still recognized the opportunities this show offered for our student actors, dancers, and singers, and we wanted to make it happen. So, we did! I asked my dear friend, Caroline Watson, to direct the music, and my other dear friend, Jacob Hemsath, to choreograph, and they both said, “Yes!” without missing a beat.
The months that followed have been exciting, to say the least. The show you see tonight is the result of so many creative minds collaborating to tell the stories of these six women, who were real people, with full and rich lives, in the best way possible. The vast majority of these creative minds belong to our amazing students, and I cannot express enough how thankful and humbled I am to be able to work with them on a daily basis.
I would like to dedicate this performance to the students of The Theatre Collective at Richardson High School. Thank you all for your hard work, talent, and energy. We couldn’t have done this without you.
With all the love in my heart, Break a Leg!
–Mrs. Whitman
