The Theatre Arts Department of Shaker Heights High School presents New Stages 26: Shaker Playwrights and Directors New Plays Series, a festival of new plays written, directed, produced, and performed by students. Seven one-act plays will be presented March 26 through 29 as part of a full season of theatrical events, which began with The Importance of Being Earnest at the Cleveland Play House in December and concludes with the Spring Ensemble Show in May.

The plays are: Leftovers by senior Susanna Pretzer, directed by junior Jenny Waletzky; Still Life with Dead Birds and a Basket of Oysters by senior Susanna Pretzer, directed by junior Melissa Freilich; One Day a Package Came by senior Amanda Stovicek, directed by senior Emily Tuttle; Ring of Fools by junior Nathanie Yaskey, directed by senior Rebecca Semel; Ring Tones by senior Peter T. Krause, directed by senior Jack Sutorius; Sound by junior Nick Hahn, directed by senior Aaron Dunn; and This Little Light of Mine by senior Jeff Stevens, directed by junior Tempest Charles.

Curtain times are 8:00 p.m. March 26 and 27 and 7:00 and 9:15 p.m. March 28 and 29. All performances will be in Stage 3, the High Schools black box theatre. For ticket information, contact the Box Office at 295-4287.

New Stages, now in its twenty-sixth continuous year, was initiated in 1983 by retired Shaker Theatre Arts Department Chair James Thornton. Having developed it out of a playwriting class, Thornton considered New Stages to be "the most significant thing we do as a theatre program. The fall show is flashier and on a larger scale. The Spring Ensemble Show provides our most polished and sophisticated performances. . . . Across the line, if you ask Shaker Theatre alumni what their most memorable moments were, they will most likely recall those moments shared in New Stages. To my knowledge, no other high school in the country has a new play series of this design."

Department Chair Christine McBurney adds, "New Stages provides an excitement and a guided learning experience for students that is unparalleled. Students work closely together, learning how to problem solve, collaborate effectively, and think creatively."

This year’s New Stages provides working and learning opportunities for more than 75 students. Over 26 years, the series has involved more than a thousand students in the creation of new works for the theatre. Among Shaker Theatre alums are:

• Carter Bays, ’93, five-time Emmy-nominated writer for Late Night with David Letterman. Bays is also a writer and producer for American Dad and How I Met Your Mother.
• Jamie Babbit, ’89, writer/director of But I’m a Cheerleader, The Quiet, and Itty Bitty…Committee
• David Wain, ’87, writer/director of Wet Hot American Summer and The Ten
• Michelle Federer, ’91, New York stage actress, the original Nessarose in Broadway’s Wicked and who recently appeared Off Broadway in Anon, and in the film Flannel Pajamas
• Michael McElroy, ’84, Tony-nominated New York stage actor who has appeared in Big River, Rent, Miss Saigon, Angels in America, currently appearing in the new Terrance McNally play, Some Men
• Gabrielle Perrin, ’87, former casting director for all West Coast operations for the Nickelodeon television channel
• Betsy Hogg, ’06, recently appeared Off Broadway in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie with Cynthia Nixon and on Broadway in The Crucible with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney and Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein
• Sara Knowlton, ’87, television, film and New York stage actress
• Jennifer Cohen, namesake of the annual Shaker Foundation Award, Owner and President of The Annoyance Theatre Company, Chicago
• The late Louis Schechter, ’83, Los Angeles film producer and director
• and many others…

Every new Broadway season for the past sixteen years has included one or more Shaker Theatre alums in major New York productions. In addition, Shaker Theatre alums hold positions in every area of professional theatre and the entertainment industry.

Stage 3—Shaker Heights High School’s intimate black box theatre—was the vision of student Amy Silberman, ’81.  For her Senior Project, she drew a design for a black box theatre and identified the space in the basement of the school.  Amy was the catalyst for turning the former fallout shelter into a performing space. Stage 3, dedicated in her memory, is the perfect venue for New Stages, seating only 86 people and usually selling out every performance.

The award-winning Theatre Arts Department at Shaker High offers nine daily theatre classes, produces four major productions and five showcases, and involves nearly 300 students each year. The program hosts numerous guest artists, including, for the past two years, residencies with Matt Thornton, ’92, of the Pilobolus Dance Theatre; Geoff Bullen, Assistant Director at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA); Seth Gordon, Associate Artistic Director at the Cleveland Play House; and regional theatre actress Diedriu Ring. Faculty members include Theatre Arts Department Chair Christine McBurney, who teaches Playwriting, Acting, Junior Ensemble, and Shakescenes; Erik Johnson, '98, who teaches Junior, Advanced and Senior Ensembles, Theatre I, and Theatre Production Seminar; Chuck Tisdale, Auditorium Manager and Technical Director; and Joel Rathbone, '95, Stage Manager.

Site Map  |   March 25, 2008