Welcome to Spotlight, where 半岛体育 highlights shows from educational institutions or regional theatres and special events around the country (who have used 半岛体育's ). By welcoming these PLAYBILLDERs center stage, we hope to give our readers a more in-depth look at theatre programs that are fostering the love of the performing arts in the next generation and the way theatre lovers are bringing 半岛体育 along for life's big moments.
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This week's Spotlight is Augusta Christian School of Augusta, Georgia, and their production of Newsies. Set in New York at the turn of the century, Newsies is the musical story of Jack Kelly, a charming newsboy. When publishing titans raise prices at the expense of Jack and his fellow "newsies," the boys must band together and fight back. Based on the 1992 film of the same name, Newsies features a Tony-winning score by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman and a book by Tony winner Harvey Fierstein.
Musical Director Christopher Norris shared with 半岛体育 why this production of Newsies is the blessing his community needed.
Tell us a little about yourself. How many years have you been teaching?
Christopher Norris: This is my 14th year teaching in the Augusta Christian Schools (ACS) Fine Arts Department and as musical director/producer for the spring show. I love to see our students discover their God-given talents and begin to develop them. I especially like to see students who are shy in nature come to life in a big way on the stage. It builds into them valuable skills that will aid them in life by increasing their confidence. The performing arts gives them a sense of community in a time when students are looking to find their identities. It develops responsibility by learning lines, songs, dance steps, set changes and leading others during the show.
What are the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of teaching the performing arts to today鈥檚 students?
The most challenging part of teaching today is seeing students who have a measure of talent, but are unwilling to be a part, due to peer pressure or even laziness. We want to make our shows the most fun a student can have during their high school years! Once we recruit students, usually by personal relationships, they discover a whole new world. It is also difficult at times to find popular shows that are appropriate for our school's program that also involve a good size cast. We are always building and drawing in younger students so that they have an investment in our program as they grow older.
What shows are your kids obsessed with right now?
Our students love musical theatre. They are always begging to know the next show we are doing, before we even finish the current project! They love shows like Hamilton, Les Mis茅rables, and Anastasia, with some liking older classics like Hello, Dolly!, and others eating up newer Disney shows like The Little Mermaid. We take an NYC Arts trip every four years or so, and our students are already asking to see their favorites that are on Broadway.
How does your school鈥檚 performing arts programs impact your community?
Augusta Christian has a strong reputation in our community for producing top-notch shows. ACS began producing spring musicals in 1993 with The Music Man, and each year since, our Fine Arts Department has produced a first-class production with a shoe-string budget and no theatre. We have begged, borrowed, and rented stage facilities, costumes, sets, mics and props, and it has only made us stronger. We always draw family, friends and even community theatre-goers to our shows, usually to sold-out crowds. Several of our students have graduated on to community theatre and even pursued collegiate majors and take with them the reputation of our program.
What are your dreams for how your drama department can grow?
We dream that our department would continue to develop students鈥攏ot only their gifts of performing, but also who they are as strong leaders in our world today. Production-wise, we want to be stronger in character development, musical technique and grow in our technical areas, training students for excellence, as well as developing more parent volunteers.
Tell us a little bit about the production. What made you pick the show?
Our 2020 (Covid era) show was Newsies. Having just completed the sitzprobe, we were at about 85 percent complete when we shut down. It was stronger than any show we had done to date. Disappointment abounded. Even though we kept it open through the summer, we were unable to produce it because of the state of our world. The students (and leaders!) were broken鈥攕o much work down the tube. It took years of building our program to get to a place to try it again. This year only three or four of the original cast was still enrolled, so we announced Newsies 2025 and it was the perfect show for us with this group of students. If we had produced it in 2020, we could never have done it this year. We went from brokenness to blessing in five years!
How do you choose shows for your students?
Being a smaller Christian school, we always look to see who will be involved that year and see the possibilities. Are there strong guy leads available? Who would be a candidate for each part? Do we have an ideal location to stage it? Do we have dancers this year? What will be the best vehicle to develop our student and their gifts? We make a big deal out of announcing the show just to build enthusiasm...and it works!
What are the kids loving about the show?
Our ACS students have loved Newsies! It may be the tightest show we have ever produced. The high-energy dance tunes, the opportunities for some total ensemble fun and awesome costumes from the 1899-era tell a fantastic story. They worked so hard and dedicated immense time to perfecting their lines, songs, and dances. Hard work pays off and gives them a pride in what they have accomplished. Many commented that this didn't seem like a "high school" show鈥攊t looked professional!
What message do you have for your students as they take the stage?
We always circle up each night before the show to encourage, inspire, and remind them of necessary things. There are no small parts if every person on stage does their very best. Someone is always watching you! Make your part "the" starring role!
How did the students participate in the design or production of this 半岛体育?
We take our own headshots wearing solid black attire with a gray background, so all the students have a professional Broadway-style look. They write their own bios and sell ads to fund the 半岛体育. They can't wait to read everyone's bio when they arrive. They look for their names, but are also just as impressed with seeing their friend's names. When it is autograph time, they always sign close to their own headshot. Each year, many families take out an ad wishing their student good luck. Our students love to see those picture collages of students of roles in past shows as they were growing up. Parents and grandparents like it, too! It is not only meaningful for the individual, but for their family and friends, as it adds to the sense of community we desire to build in our department.
How has PLAYBILLDER impacted your performing arts program as a resource? We have been using PLAYBILLDER for our spring musical programs since 2014. It not only made the process much easier, but also added to the professionalism we desired to give to our theatregoers. We love the online archive to go back and look at past shows, especially after so many years. The ads our students sell, and our corporate sponsors, help to fund the printing of the program as well as other areas of need for our show. It's a win-win situation for us!
