Performing arts department chair Laura Lang-Ree picks four Student-Directed Showcase (SDS) directors every year by conducting interviews and essay questions and the input of other faculty members to single out the students most committed to performing arts, qualified for filling the leadership role and capable of tackling the responsibility of a director.

Janet Lee:

As a child, Janet Lee (12) was the quiet, reserved child who was heavily invested in a visual arts path. As she became older, her passion for performing arts soon overshadowed her other interests.

“In 6th grade, I saw the middle school show ‘Education of Janet O’Malley’ and some of my friends convinced me to [start],” Janet said.

Janet embraces the role as an SDS director in her senior year, a position she has sought after since she first participated in SDS as a freshman.

Janet has sung in many school choirs, has taken many acting classes and has auditioned for every SDS.

Although rehearsals started only recently, Janet has already learned a lot from putting together her play “Cheating Death” and hopes to gain even more knowledge about being a director.

“As an actor, I didn’t know so much preparation went into this,” she said. “[Now] I basically have
most of the show laid out in my head already– how I want it to be on stage.”

Janet looks forward to giving direction to her cast as well as watching her peers’ plays when the shows premiere in January.

Rachel Renteria:

Coming out of her first rehearsal for her play “Selfie,” Rachel Renteria (12) carried a soft smile on her face, already satisfied with the progress of her actors.

“I can honestly already say I love my cast,” she said.

She acted for the first time when she auditioned for the play “Heidi” in second grade; her performing arts career flourished even further when she watched a children’s music theater production “Aladdin Junior.”

“I remembered the phone number they said during intermission,” she said. “I made my mom call the number at the end.”

She found out about SDS in her freshman year, and since then, it has been a significant part of her life.

“I knew it was something I wanted to try because I’d always been on the stage but never behind the scenes,” she said.

Rachel found that SDS was most memorable to her because of the strong bond between the cast members.

“I still have a group chat from last year’s SDS,” she said. “It’s like this great support system that’s just there for you.”

Rachel values the relationship within her SDS family greatly and hopes to work towards creating a bond with her cast this year as well.

Mary Najibi:

Growing up with an older brother who was previously a SDS director, Mary Najibi (12) knew from very early on in her life that she wanted to direct her own show.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Mary said. “I like seeing [my cast] try things out, and I like helping them in giving them direction and seeing what they do with it.”

Mary was thrown into the spotlight at the young age of three when she was introduced to violin. Her love for performing arts grew in eighth grade when she observed her brother direct his SDS show.

“I would see [my brother] have rehearsals at our house,” Mary said. “It was really cool to see him go through the process, and I really wanted to do that too.”

Her high school career consisted of fulfilling the prerequisites for the student director position and participating in various plays, which contributed to her overall application in becoming a director.

“[Lang-Ree] asks for all the shows we’ve been in and the classes we’ve taken,” she said. “Those add up with points so that you can become a director.”

As for her cast, Mary enjoys working with them and looks forward to watching her actors perform her show “The Internet is distract- Oh look a kitty!”

Maxwell Smitherman:

“Being able to see what goes on the other side of the stage and what goes on behind the scenes is really cool,” SDS director Maxwell “MC” Smitherman said.

MC chose to become a SDS director in hopes of experiencing the preparation and backstage aspect of putting a play together.

He picked the play “The Final Dress Rehearsal” because it contains humor and involves great character work, something he looks for.

“I [knew] that I wanted a comedy because I like making people laugh,” MC said. “Serious plays didn’t really appeal to me.”

His performing arts career has taken many turns as he never participated consistently in theater until high school. MC’s biggest milestone in performing arts was when he obtained the role of a student director.

“I think it was just it was another side of the theater world that I could experiment with, which was intriguing,” he said.

Although MC struggles with deciding between whether to continue acting or directing, he’s excited about working with his cast and anticipates learning more about a director’s job behind the scenes.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on November 20, 2015.