My High School Might Cut Its Theatre Program

I recently became aware that my high school is thinking about cutting their Theatre Arts program. I wrote them the following letter. If the arts mean anything to you, maybe you could share your experiences with them?  Here's the link to their emails:

http://www.ashland.kyschools.us/districtBoardEd.aspx

Ironic motto there, eh?

Members of the Board,

I'll try not to make this too long. I know you're all busy people and I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this.

A lot of my former classmates are buzzing about a rumor that the theatre arts society is potentially being cut. If you'll forgive my bluntness here: I am appalled, for reasons I'll try to explain.

I'll start off by saying that since graduating Paul Blazer in 2007, I went on to study theatre for four years at Morehead State University. I'm currently a working actor in Los Angeles where in only one year I've been in commercials, television, the stage, and music videos. (You can check out www.nathan-wellman.com to see more specific examples.) My love of theater also led to my passion for writing, and i've had short stories published in eighteen different publications, plays performed all over the country, a novel published by Amazon, and screenplays produced by respected people in the industry. I cannot overemphasize how different my life would be if I hadn't been a student of Jane Modlin's theatre classes. I honestly can't even picture what it might look like.

Perhaps even more importantly, I came to Theatre 1 as a shy Freshman who didn't have any friends in basically the whole school. Being given a venue to consistently perform over those four years gave me confidence in myself at a stage in life where, let's face it, confidence is usually in short supply. I've seen it happen in those classes time and time again. Quiet kids who would rather fade into the background are forced to be looked at and acknowledged on the stage, and even though this concept usually terrifies them at first, over time they realize that they do have something to express. 

The importance of this program is critical. Not even taking into account the many people I know who've graduated from Paul Blazer and gone on to pursue acting professionally, theatre gives kids the confidence to believe that they have something to say in a world where sometimes it feels like nobody's listening. It breaks kids out of their own shells and gives them the courage to succeed. I wouldn't trade my time at the Blazer Theatre Arts Society for the world, and I beg you not to take that opportunity away from future generations.

Sincerely,

Nathan Wellman BA in Theater, MFA in Creative Writing

SAG-AFTRA Eligible

PS: Thanks for all the snow days.

Strike for the Actor: College vs. Professional

Ah, the strike. A both symbolic and literal destruction of a once proud production that (hopefully) has entertained and nourished many happy theater patrons. I've noticed something of a difference between how strike works in college vs. how it works in the "real" world of the 99 seat theater, and I thought I'd share some of them with you.

Showing up:

College: SHOW UP FOR STRIKE IF YOU'RE IN THE SHOW. SHOW UP FOR STRIKE OR I WILL KILL YOU AND FLUNK YOU AND GIVE YOU WEDGIES.

Professional: Oh crap, you actually showed up!? Thank you so much, you're amazing! You're God's gift to theater! Have a donut! Have three!

Nearly dying because something almost fell on your head:

College: SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN STANDING THERE!

Professional: Sorry, bestie! Here, take my helmet!


When you're standing around not doing anything:

College: MOVE YOUR ASS!!!!!

Professional: Oh, you're taking a break? Good idea! I'll join you!


When you're running out of things to do:

College: Walk purposefully back and forth so it looks like you're super busy.

Professional: Walk purposefully back and forth so it looks like you're super busy.


When strike's over:

College: You get pizza.

Professional: So you're coming back for the build tomorrow, right? Please? I'll bring pizza!

Check out the Absolutely Filthy Strike

52 Sketches in 52 Weeks: Noise (Goodbye Matt)

I met Matt Hatfield in college. He was without question the funniest guy in that department and insanely talented onstage. That guy is still the only person I know who can hold a whole cafeteria table's attention for three hours. People would literally skip class just to sit around and listen to Matt crack jokes.

Even more interesting (to me) was that he was THE WRITER of the group. People respected that about him, and as an aspiring freshman writer myself, it gave me something to shoot for. I wanted people to talk about my work the way they talked about Matt's one day. In this way, Matt was pretty influential in the fledgling stages of my writing career.

Backstage for Matt's Midnight Beckons

Over the years, we started emailing manuscripts and screenplays back and forth for the other to viciously critique. His play Midnight Beckons was the first show I ever directed outside of class, and he later acted in Oleanna, which I directed as my sort of goodbye to Morehead State.

Matt in Oleanna

So I was of course delighted when Matt decided to come with me to Los Angeles. If we pushed each other forward at school, imagine the possibilities in a place like LA! We crammed into a tiny little bohemian apartment, and Adventure Team Extreme was born. (In fact, he came up with that name.) And what a ride it's been.

But, over the past year and a half, it became abundantly clear that for whatever reason LA just isn't a place where Matt can thrive. The personality of this place just always seemed to clash with his. So I wasn't too surprised when one night he told me that he was leaving to go pursue other opportunities.

Before he left though, he wanted to make an ATX piece that was more epic/ambitious than anything we'd ever tried to do. So for the past three weeks he and Zach have been constructing makeshift camera dollies, splashing blood all over our walls, and screaming in agony at 2am while our neighbors tried to sleep. This creepy Hitchcock tribute is the result of that effort. I think the cinematography on this is our best yet.

Noise (#28)

I'll miss collaborating with ol' Matt. It's a shame our paths had to part. But I'm excited to see what new opportunities come his way. See ya soon, old buddy.

Also: You left your copy of The World Ends With You here. You're not getting it back.