Glennis Woosley

Thing 1 [junior Carter Snyder] and Thing 2 [junior Josefina Brown] dump clovers over Horton [junior Judah Anderson] as he searches for the Whos in a field full of clovers in “Seussical the musical”.

   Nixa High School’s Theater Department’s mission statement is “To inspire a love of humanity through creative growth and artistic experience.” Within the department, students have the opportunity to develop the skills necessary for behind-the-scenes work.

   The Theater Department offers both fine arts and practical arts classes, including courses in stagecraft, design, makeup, theater production and advanced technical theater.

   “I love that I’m a theater teacher who teaches a class [Stagecraft] that a lot of non-theater students take,”  Cory Glenn, Stagecraft and Advanced Technical Theater teacher, said. “So I get to meet lots of different students, and they get exposed to the arts in maybe unexpected ways.”

   Glenn worked in the professional theater environment for about 11 years before becoming a teacher nine years ago. He said that the interactions students have with the stagecraft class vary.

   “There is the, like, game of school that exists,” Glenn said. “And it is sometimes hard to walk into a classroom that does not ask you to take notes and memorize those notes for a test. And so, sometimes students struggle with that – and then other times, I think students are really maybe empowered by the freedom in the classroom.”

   Sophomore Madilyn Ballard is in stagecraft for her second year.

   “I really wanted to be a part of something that is super big, has a lot of these people coming from different [areas] to contribute their part,” Ballard said. “I wanted to contribute my part … I was interested in building props.”

  Glenn said that, every year, a couple of students take the stagecraft class to fulfill their practical art credit, with little interest in the department. Then, some of those students will end up integrating into the group of theater students.

   “They end up being part of the core group that continues to participate and are pivotal parts of those productions throughout their year,” Glenn said. “And a lot of times that’s sad because a lot of times they’re [students who join later on] in senior year and … [we] wish we would have met earlier. But that’s OK. I’m glad they find us when they do”.

   Stagecraft students contribute the hands needed to make the sets. All pieces for the set are built there, and for the majority of the time, also painted. Sometimes, Stagecraft also does the designing.

   “You should get involved in [it] if you have a free slot … because it’s really rewarding to be a part of a big department, you know,” Ballard said. “You could be watching the show and say, ‘Hey, I built that. Hey, I did this, I did that’ … I just love being able to be a part of that, seeing my work on stage.”

   Students from Stagecraft may occasionally work together with students in the Costume/Props/Makeup class, helping to design items for them, collaborating on projects, and vice versa.

   In the Costume/Prop/Makeup Class, students worked on items and clothing for “Seussical the Musical.” The feathers for the Bird Girl characters were sewn together; clovers – and the one in particular where the world of the Whos rests – were made; butter knives were created.

   “So far, we have learned how to hand sew, machine sew and apply basic stage makeup,” senior Molly Vaughan said. “Currently, we have certain items that we are working on for the show.”

   Vaughan helped design and craft all of the butter knives.

   “The stuff you see on stage, I’m not making it,” Costumes/Props/Makeup teacher Lakyn Daniels said. “I might occasionally help a student, like I’ll help them problem solve, but … the props and the costumes you’re going to see – a lot of that – is students’ design, and … their work coming to life.”

   Vaughan said that the class connects to the theater department by giving insight into what is needed for a production.

    “I just enjoy being creative and being able to help with the shows,” Vaughan said. “It’s a fun way to make art into reality. Plus, you are taught skills that are useful in life.”

   Daniels said that students in the Costumes/Props/Makeup class get practice and experiment with the art of theoretically designing things, to actually build them in real life.

   “I think that makes you a better artist because there’s a lot of failure that happens, like not as in failing grades but like you tried something and it failed, so then you have to try something else,” Daniels said. “And, I think that that makes students better artists, but also just better humans– when you … [have] to cope with failure and then move past it.”

   Senior Carson McMillan joined the theater department during his freshman year, being introduced to it by Glenn, his fifth-hour teacher.

   “We had talked a little bit about the movies and theater and stuff,” McMillan said. “And I told him how I was interested in it, and he said. ‘Why don’t you join this class? Why don’t you do some backstage stuff?’”

   He is now in the Advanced Technical Theater program. The class is offered for the first time this year.

   “I think in the beginning, when you are inexperienced … sometimes it can be discouraging to be inexperienced and feel like you’re the only guy who doesn’t know what you’re doing, but you just have to get over that because everybody starts at that point. So, you just have to keep trying and … [not] get discouraged.”

  Students who go on to take the Advanced Technical Theater class spend more time pondering design and its impact on the art.

   “We have a space that has millions of dollars of technology in it,” Glenn said. “But the ability to access that can be difficult because it’s not something that can be maybe easily latched onto with experience in a stagecraft class, and so that class sets aside time to really dig deeply into that specific technology.”