SAU Theatre Goes Pro

The SAU Theatre Department has successful alumni and former staff members all over the country. It's especially sweet when they can lend their talents back home in the Quad Cities area.

This fall alumni Kendall McKasson '19, Kimberly Kurtenbach '96, professor Dr. Cory Johnson, and former adjunct instructor Ron May will be working at the professional theatre Circa ‘21 in Rock Island, Illinois, on the show Disenchanted. This show is about the Disney princesses that you know and love, but the story they tell ... is not what you would expect.

May has been a friend of the department for many years and will be returning to direct the music portion of the spring musical Little Women. When May isn't helping out his friends at St. Ambrose or Augustana, he is usually found music directing at Circa '21. May started working at Circa 35 years ago, and his first experience as music director on the mainstage at Circa was in 2008 for the production of Are We There Yet? Since then, he has musically directed roughly 17 productions with the company.

Johnson has been professionally acting and directing with Circa '21 since she moved to the Quad Cities to help start the theatre program at St. Ambrose in 1989. At the time, Johnson had been working as a professional actor and continued in that direction even while teaching. Over the years she has acted in many shows, but this will be the first time in 18 years that she will be back in the directors chair at Circa.

Both of these teachers have made a huge impact on the theatre department here on campus but there is a very large difference between the two work environments. Both Johnson and May mention that the largest difference between educational theatre and professional theatre is the time frame allotted. Circa ‘21 shows must be ready to be performed in just eight to 15 days so the preparation process is different.

"It's not unusual for professional performers to come to the first rehearsal completely memorized so as to take advantage of the short, intense rehearsal period," stated May. "[Plus], the professional performers have strong, developed performing skills that are still not polished in academia. That's why you're in school!"

Johnson is also less familiar with this short amount of time. "I'm accustomed to more review and I don't block as quickly as I used to."

However, Johnson is also used to directing with people from a wide array of theatrical backgrounds due to her status as a theatre professor, which means she could be directing a developed actor right along someone who has never done a play before because that is common in an educational setting.

When casting shows, everyone looks for different criteria, but something both May and Johnson mentioned was that they prefer finding people who seem nice to work with. Johnson states that she is always looking for "good humans," when she is putting together her cast. Due to his role, May must look at casting with a few priorities in mind like vocal range, vocal types, quality, and skill level, but he also likes to check if "they have ever been rehired at the same theatre: that says that they were easier to work with and worth having return to that theatre."

Additionally, Johnson is always looking for people to make decisions.

"I don't want to make all their decisions for them and I look for bold choices," Johnson said. And when asked about what will turn her away from a performer, she replied, "when I give them a direction to take and they give me the same thing again and again. It shows that they may not be able to take direction."

Disenchanted will run September 17 through November 6 at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse. All Disney enthusiasts and those simply looking for a hearty laugh should attend if they are searching for an evening of fun!