Palm Harbor University High actors raise money
to compete in southeast U.S. conference March 7-10
as Florida’s representatives
For the first time in nearly 20 years, a Pinellas County school has won the top honor at the Florida Theatre Conference. Palm Harbor University High drama students were selected for their performance of the play Wiley and the Hairy Man.
According to the conference website, it is the only secondary school drama organization in Florida that is associated with both professional and amateur theatre organizations and individuals where secondary students get the opportunity to safely interact with and observe members of the total theatre community.
On Jan. 27 at a fundraising dinner with entertainment from vocal chorus students followed by a performance of the play, the cast of 23 students raised more than $11,000 from community support for their trip to represent Florida at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Chattanooga, Tenn., March 7-10. The conference is one of the largest festivals in the southern United States.
The award and the fundraising show have been the greatest experience for student actors Amanda Springer, Tim Hart and Vanessa Lopez.
Springer, a junior in the traditional program at the school, was named Best Actress for her portrayal of the character Mammy, Wiley’s mother. Mammy encourages her
son to go out to the swamp and defeat the 
Hairy Man.
Through theatre, she achieves balance between school, family and friends, she said.
“You have to learn how to make time for everything,” said Springer. “I do theatre because it gives me an opportunity to be challenged. It is also a lot of fun and a great way to make friends.”
Hart, a 10th grade student in the IB program, plays the role of Hairy Man. The biggest challenge for him is the physical transformation of becoming the antagonist with a big, fake belly, shoulder pads, beard and a lot of body hair.
“I love to entertain people. I have been performing since the first grade,” he said. “It is fulfilling for me to be on a stage and make the audience laugh or cry. It is great to see their reaction.”
The Hairy Man’s only weakness is that he hates dogs. Lopez, a senior, plays Wiley’s dog and best friend. Dressed in costume and wearing paws and a tail, she chases Hairy Man and barks at him.
“Nobody recognizes me on stage. They [don't] even know I am a girl,” she said laughing. “I was excited when I got the role because there are only four roles and a chorus. It is fun to impersonate a dog. I have fun, I bark and lick people.”
The play uses Jacques Lecoq chorus style choreography which originated in Paris. Actors generate a physical performance based in large part on improvisation: http://www.ecole-jacqueslecoq.com/en
“I had seen the play on stage a couple of times many years ago,” said Graham Howard, theatre teacher at Palm Harbor University High. “Each senior has to do an independent study which is either a performance or workshop. Jocelyn Reynolds worked with chorus as part of her IB study. She researched, planned and blocked the movements with fellow students.”
For her leadership role in the play production, Howard describes Reynolds as the assistant director for choral movement.
Springer, Hart and Lopez say theatre is now and always be a part of their lives.
“I have this dream of being on Broadway, this is what I want to do in my life,” Hart said. ”Obviously, I have other alternatives, I am not going to be soul crashed if it doesn’t work out but I know this is what I want to do. It is hard work but it is going to be worth it at the end.”
Hart said the key to success is collaboration with the team.
The folk-tale inspired drama Wiley and the Hairy Man by Susan Zeder is the perfect drama for his students, said Howard.
“I love the rhyme. I love the magic,” he said. “When I was looking for a play for my students, this drama seemed to offer a lot of opportunities both for the stage and in the classroom.”
Howard said that exposure to theater teaches his students about collaborative work.
“I enjoy seeing them light up the stage,” he said. ”I am very humbled to receive such an honor and I am very excited for my students because you direct, but it is the student, the actor, who then has to make it come alive. They have to internalize it, breathe it and just bring it back to the audience. When they do that, and I have been doing this for a long time, I can still sit there and get goosebumps and smile and enjoy watching them take this wonderful step, this leap of faith on the stage to entertain an audience. There is no experience quite that. When you know that students experience that as well, this moment of entertaining an audience, of reaching out and touching an audience, that cannot be taught in a classroom.”
Tagged as:
award,
best practices,
high school,
technique,
theatre
