Monte Vista Drama
Drama Club Executive Board
PRESIDENT - Sara Comstock
Focusing on community building, shows, and other projects
VP External -Michael Cahn
Focusing building the program and strengthening our place in the community!
VP Internal - Bree Ligon
Focusing on productions classes and show based needs
Secretary - Jolie Cesio
Focusing on supporting all programs. Specific jobs include: minutes, programs, and calendar
Treasurer - Sierra Popst; Caitlin O’Melia
Focusing on budget, fundraising, and box office
PR/Marketing - Kinley Park
Focusing on building our digital brand and marketing all aspects of the Drama program
Drama Club Board
Thespian Troupe President/Drama Club: Mandy Tatum
Focusing on building the drama club and expanding our use of the Thespian Program.
Creative Director: Mia Ransdell
Focusing on creating a cohesive vision between all areas of productions.
Dramaturg: Robert Plattner
Focusing on providing the cast and crew with vital knowledge, research, and interpretation about the theatrical work in question so that they are—in turn—better equipped to do their jobs.
Program Projects (Haunted House, Scene Nights, 24 hr) - Isabella Low, Micah Garcia, Makena Eggiman, Lily Peartree
Focusing on Drama Program Projects to support classes, club, and school
Improv Troupe: Hayden Long
Focusing on leading and building Improv Club
As I talked about during class all year, I want to start structuring our program more like an actual theatre company in order to avoid heaping all of the responsibilities onto a few people. Each of these positions will have more specifically defined roles and should make us more efficient! Interested in reading scripts and helping to select shows? Reach out to Connor or Sara. There will be info about this in the next day or two!
Directors hate this time of year, because they know before the list is posted and the e-mails are sent out, that hearts are about to be broken.
They know that puffy-eyed students who feel rejected will be showing up at their door.
Yup, directors hate this time of year.
Today, my hope is to speak to students and parents about this subject, and give them a bit of perspective that might be helpful.
When a student is not put in a group, it is almost always because of the data received from auditions, or because of observations over an entire previous year of working with that person.
It could be a question of tone or projection.
It could be a question of pitch control (singing flat or sharp).
It could be related to the student's grades, versus the time demands of the shows.
It could be a lot of things, and NONE of it personal.
Students, one of the reasons I hate posting results, is that I love how much this means to you. I care about each and every student, and Iwant you to feel empowered, successful, loved, appreciated, and integral. The LAST thing I want to do is knock you down or disappoint you. And yet, in the world of auditions......there is simply no other way to do it.
-not everybody can make it. Varsity sports have cuts. Choir and Dance have cuts. We have cuts.
-the argument of "he/she has paid their dues" is completely irrelevant, as the audition data isn't measuring that
-age cannot be the biggest concern, as in "they've waited their turn, now they should automatically be allowed in". If seniority....or the most seniority....was that big of a factor, then shouldn't we let the oldest living person in the USA be president? After all......they waited their turn longer than anyone else.
I want to speak to students who are disappointed by audition results with a few thoughts. First, YOU are better at something than anybody else in your school......everybody truly excels at something! Secondly, you cannot tie your worth as a person to the result of the audition....you are unique, special, vital, and the most important person on earth to somebody! Third, life is full of competition, and auditions are a microcosm of preparation for that.....competitions for jobs and careers, university placement, athletics, etc. Fourth, I LOVE to see when students use disappointing audition results as "fuel for their fire", and work on their skill development for the next year.
People need to understand that this time of year absolutely keeps directors up at night with worry. They worry about disappointing students they love, letting down people with great expectations, angering parents, and being questioned by those who simply don't know very much about the true evaluation of criteria within the process. My hope is that students and parents reading this will realize none of this diminishes the value or preciousness of the student. I am always wiling to discuss your auditions however they went, but it should be approached as, "what should I work on?" vs "why didn't I get what I want?" PLEASE WAIT 48 HOURS BEFORE REACHING OUT! Trust me! It is better to give yourself some time to think about what you want to focus on. I'll be around next week and am happy to chat!
Congratulations to ALL OF YOU on your auditions and finishing the school year strong! You give my life and this program so much energy and life. Thank you!
Stage Crafts/Theatre Production
Oliver Wynnne
Seth Jones
Nick Carranza
Savannah Hunt
Kat Lindsay
Ella Galde
Erin Yang
Mary Holton
Aryn Seidenverg
Chloe Phelps
Maci Stemmons
Nicole Wong
Ryan Funk
Kat Macias
Emily Gase
Caede Davis
Avery Helfer
Logan Beck
Jolie Cesio
Sara Comstock
Makena Eggiman
Sam Funk
Mia Garcia
Chelsea Gemmer
Lukas Threlkeld
Amelia Liptak
Caitlin O’Melia
Milly Paulsey
Lily Peartree
Sierra Popst
Mia Ransdell
Kirby Tingley
Ruby Toombs
Madeline Wiener
Play Production
Ivy terranova
Isabella Low
Keira Negrete
Bree Ligon
Eleni Dimtrakos
Ella Hamilton
Kate Campbell
Megan Zhang
Amanda Tatum
Kinley Park
Michael Cahn
Taylor Cartago
Robert Plattner
**Drama IV/Productions**
**Please see Mr. Connor for further details!**
Hayden Long
Tay Burgess
Drama III
(partial list)
Sreesha Bose
Emily Garner
Angelina Duong
Michael Carranza
Andrew Clark
Ellie Ramos
**DRAMA III/Stage Crafts**
**Please see Mr. Connor for further details!**
Adi Hylen
Ema Lisinac
Jianna Chang
Madeline Palmer
I apologize if your name was omitted from the list. I'm sure it was just an accident on my part. If you don't see your name here, email me and we'll get it straitened out!