We’ve only been in school for six weeks and we are already opening our first theatre production of the year!  We are very fortunate to have a highly talented group of students here at UA, so we decided many years ago that we needed to up our game and provide more opportunities for them. The solution was to shorten our rehearsal time and add an additional fall play to the schedule. Each of our fall productions rehearse anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks, depending on how the calendar falls. This gives our students the same timeline that many professional theatres use to rehearse a play. 

During the first full week of classes, we auditioned students from Ursuline, Jesuit, and Cistercian for our 2 fall productions. This fall we are producing Moon Over Buffalo, a hilarious comedy by Ken Ludwig, and The Trojan Women, based on the Greek tragedy by Euripides and adapted by our own Ms. Stephanie Butler. This is a typical fall season for us, as we strive to produce both a comedy and a drama, as well as one classical and one contemporary work. 

Right before Thanksgiving break, we will hold auditions for the musical. Last year we produced the beloved classic, Oklahoma! This year we are going more contemporary with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. To round out the year, the ten seniors enrolled in the Advanced Theatre class will produce and direct their own festival of one-act plays. Some will be original works written by the students themselves, while others will direct published plays.

If you want to teach someone about deadlines, get them involved in the performing arts. The audience will show up whether you’re ready or not! 

Theatre not only provides an outlet for performers, but it also offers students opportunities to work behind the scenes, learning invaluable lessons in leadership, collaboration, and responsibility. We have courses built into our program that allow students to develop practical life skills while helping bring our productions to life. 

Our Stagecraft classes empower students with woodworking, painting, and power-tool skills that they use to help build the incredible sets designed by Ms. Honeycutt. Costume students learn to sew by applying both hand-sewing and machine-sewing techniques to construct and alter the costumes designed by Mrs. Davis. Students in Stage Makeup & Design learn the makeup and hairstyling techniques that help bring characters to life on stage. If you caught our production of She Stoops to Conquer last year, the incredible wigs you saw were all designed and built by our own talented students.

Once a show opens, the students take over the operation of the production. The theatre staff get to sit back and enjoy the performance alongside the audience while students show off the leadership skills they developed throughout the rehearsal process. 

One of my favorite things to say about theatre is: if you want to teach someone about deadlines, get them involved in the performing arts. The audience will show up whether you’re ready or not! 

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little about what we do in the Theatre Department, and I hope to see you sitting in the audience with me this fall. Moon Over Buffalo opens Friday at 4:00 p.m. 

See you there!

Terri Ferguson

Performing Arts Department Chair

Moon Over Buffalo Tickets