The school’s dinner theater experience was the brainchild of Music Teacher Shaun Steavenson nine years ago, and the program has grown in both participation and cuisine. The first year the production served chicken with skewers of cucumbers, mozzarella and tomatoes; this year, Olive Garden catered the shows, complete with pasta and sauce, salad, and breadsticks.
“I think it's definitely a community builder,” Steavenson said. “When people can be part of a table and get several of their closest friends together for a meal and a performance to watch their children, it’s a great opportunity.”
Student participation has changed even more significantly. The first year, Steavenson opened auditions to all grades in the school, and 20 students joined the cast for the show “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Over the past few years, the school has had more than 100 students audition for each show, so Steavenson did the unthinkable: He split the group into two separate casts which perform on alternating nights.
“At first, we just offered ‘A’ and ‘B’ main characters and kept the same ensemble for all four shows, but this year we also had to split the ensemble because we had so many kids.”
"It’s a wonderful challenge to have," he said. "Twice the number of students get an opportunity to perform, but it requires the preparation of an entire second cast of players. Twice the number of kids need to learn the songs, the script, the blocking, and stage directions. Without the dedicated staff and parent volunteers, the show would not go on."
“I cannot do this by myself. We have a wonderful parent volunteer, Crystal Jaworski, that comes in and works as a sub in the school, and she also has a background in theater. Crystal and I did the first dinner theater here by ourselves. She does all our costumes and makeup and backstage things.”
Over time, Steavenson realized the workload was too much without more help, and recruited additional staff members: Fourth-grade Teacher Phoebe Rolland, Fifth-grade Teacher Jennie Straup, and Technology Teacher Andy Ellis.
“Phoebe has done amazing work with the choreography, and some of the blocking as well; she’s been a great help. We brought in Jenny who has been a big help with music and singing, and Andy brings in his sound and lighting equipment and runs it all so we can make the gym really feel like a theater.”
The impact is noticeable as families fill the gym for their dinner and a show. The gym goes through a transformation as different colors illuminate the actors during their scenes, and on-person microphones help everyone hear the dialog of the main characters.
This year, the school hosted two different musicals: “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Dare to Dream,” which is a new musical that compiles many popular Disney songs about imagination and dreaming.
Steavenson said the addition of dinner to the performance was a popular idea, but he wanted to keep ticket prices reasonable. The solution was for student actors to raise money by working at the concession booth at school athletic events. This and other donations offset much of the cost of the food.
“We wanted to keep it affordable so people could come and watch their children perform, eat dinner, and have a special experience. We’re able to raise enough money that each family with a performer receives two free tickets to a show.”
The productions rely heavily on volunteers, and Steavenson said the parents of Landmark are strong supporters of the theater program.
“I don't know if anyone realizes what it’s like to wrangle 40-plus students backstage and try to get them in hair and makeup and costumes, and that’s just production week. Having those amazing parent volunteers is a huge shoutout to our community here at Landmark. They’ve helped our program so much.”
Great work providing an amazing experience for students and families, Landmark!
About Landmark Academy at Reunion
Landmark Academy at Reunion is a tuition-free, public charter school in Commerce City, Colorado, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through high school across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
Visit Landmark Academy at Reunion's blog to read more stories like this.