DIRECTING PORTFOLIO

           In the spring of 2020 I had just started rehearsals for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee when the world shut down due to the Covid pandemic. Like everywhere else in the world, we cancelled in-person classes, isolated in place, and unfortunately had to postpone our production. A year later, with the licensing rights already purchased by the department, we were tasked to somehow put on this musical with masked actors, masked audience and in an open air venue-which at the time were all stipulations that needed to be met in order for our students to be allowed to perform. After some casting changes based on previous cast members graduating or not returning during the pandemic, we had to figure out how to tell a story when you can't see your actors' faces as well as where we would perform this show. We figured out the "where" first. An unusual advantage to teaching at a southern university with an advanced agricultural program is that our campus has a rodeo arena, which while rooved, was built as an open air arena. So we decided to build a platform stage right in the middle of the dirt pit in the rodeo and built our set on that. The bigger curve ball I faced was the "how." I needed to make this show compelling, wholesome and funny without being able to see my students' faces. During callbacks, I came up with the idea of performing the show with Avenue-Q style puppets. I thought the sweet and slightly naughty nature of the show lent itself to humor that would and could be conveyed through puppetry. My design team, while wary, agreed and we committed to the idea. This decision was a major undertaking with the cast now having to learn a new skill in puppetry, but design wise, it was equally as daunting with our entire department having construction days to fabricate and costume all of our puppets from scratch.  It became a challenge that brought not only the cast but the entire theater department together to put on their first musical and first live performance since the pandemic started. So, I can proudly say I believe I am the only director to premiere a production of  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with full scale puppets, in a rodeo pit. The show must go on.