February 26, 2024 • 32 mins
Welcome to our latest episode of Affton Unplugged, taking you behind the scenes at Rogers Middle School's drama club—the creative hub behind some truly intriguing theatrical productions. Join our superintendent Travis Bracht as he engages in heartfelt conversations with the inspiring drama teacher, Mr. Joe Murphy, and some exceptionally talented students.
Unfolding his journey from an enthusiastic teacher in Houston, Missouri - Mr. Murphy leads us through his fascinating career, which included stepping into the role of director at the YMCA, before he made his return to teaching. His experiences, passion for hiking, and undying love for teaching form the heart of this compelling conversation.
The plot thickens as the students reveal their roles in "Comic Book Artists," adding an element of surprise to the spring production. They proceed to share an equally engaging narrative about their fall performance, Honk Jr, diving into the depths of their characters while shining a light on their personal growth and how they overcome challenges. Their descriptions highlight not only their talent but also the sense of camaraderie that direct these productions.
Prepare to be transported into the vibrant world of Blake, Russell, Kit, and Eden—each bringing a unique perspective to the table. From Blake's dedication exceeding acting, Russell's take on playing the 'Ugly Duckling,' Kit's journey from being an apprehensive participant to owning the stage, and Eden's unforgettable mic-incident—these stories not only entertain but resonate with the intricacies of performing arts.
As we journey through rousing tales centered around stage fright, resilience, the impact of comedy, and growth, Mr. Murphy adds the cherry on top with his favorite memories. This episode serves as a testament to the drama club's vital role in shaping students, fostering friendships, nurturing talent, and building confidence that extends far beyond the stage.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:20):
Welcome to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District that highlights
the people and stories that make the district great.
I'm your host, Superintendent Travis Brock, and in the Afton School District,
education is the most important thing we do.
Music.
(00:42):
Welcome to this episode of the afton unplugged podcast
and today i'm at rogers middle school talking with a staff member mr murphy
and some students who are involved with the rogers middle school productions
they have a fall production uh honk junior and then they're going to tell us
us about their spring production, which is Comic Book Artists.
(01:04):
So guys, thanks for joining me, and let's go ahead and get into some introductions.
So Mr. Murphy, you want to introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about what
you do in Afton, how long you've been in the district, are there other jobs
and roles you have with the district, and then anything outside of work that
you might want to share with us. We'll turn it over to you.
Okay, so I teach most of the time at the high high school.
(01:27):
I teach drama, film, and creative comm arts, and sometimes English up there at the high school.
And then almost every afternoon, I'm down here at Rogers running our drama club.
I've been with Afton for six years.
First, I was down here doing both the teaching and the drama club here for two
years. And then after that, I was moved up to the high school.
(01:49):
And so now I get to see the students now sometimes from sixth grade all the
way through my senior year, which is It was actually really fun.
And then before Afton, so many moons ago, I was first a teacher down in the small town of Houston,
(02:09):
which is down in the Ozarks, about 45 miles south of Rolla.
And there, that was, like, I still taught drama and speech and that.
However, that was also a speech coaching job. And that just wasn't a good fit for me.
And it was just you know like far
away from from family um and
plus at the time i i was really in to like
(02:30):
summer camp and so then after that i became
a camp uh director for uh seven years uh
full-time with two different um ymcas first
for five years up in auburn new york and then for for um and then for like a
year and a half out in flint hills and kansas and so there i kind of just I
(02:52):
just like developed a love for just growing life skills in students,
life skills, life skills and social skills on that.
And so now, but well, and so, and so eventually I kind of wanted to like leave
the office and then get back into working with kids again.
And so then that's when I moved back to St. Louis and, and then became,
(03:13):
well here again. So, and so, so.
Now, I kind of apply that love for the social growth and the growth and life
skills into the job I do now.
So then in my fine arts classes, certainly at the high school,
but definitely here at the drama club too, here at Rogers.
(03:37):
And so, yeah, we do theater, and yeah, it's super fun, and yes, the shows are good.
But eventually, they move on, you know. And, you know, most people probably
aren't going to be actors.
However, they will still have the life skills and social skills that they have.
As far as outside of this, I love to go hiking and I love to go camping.
(04:01):
And so if you ever want a tip on a trail, let me know. I've probably done it.
If it's somewhere in Missouri, I've probably been there.
So hiking, backpacking, and camping.
So that's probably my number one hobby outside of
theater otherwise it's it's theater all right
well thanks for that and i know every time the staff have
(04:23):
like a step competition or like getting in the most miles i think you're a top
performer usually because you're always hiking you know being active and so
i know you're always way up on the leaderboard with getting your steps in it's
that and the fact that my classroom at at the high school is very far away from
the bathrooms bedrooms from the copy machine.
And then here, I'm like around here a lot too, just on my face.
(04:47):
So you're very active at work too.
Yeah. Well, thanks for introducing yourself.
We're lucky to have you both at the middle school here and at the high school.
And I'm sure the kids enjoy seeing you, like you mentioned, for seven years,
really, from sixth grade through 12th grade. Yeah.
So let's go ahead and meet some of our students that are here.
Maybe tell us your first name, what grade you're in, what is your role in the
(05:11):
spring production that's coming up, and are there other things you're interested
in, either at school or outside of school? How about we start with you?
My name is Kit, and I'm in eighth grade. Okay.
I am the lead role in the spring show comic book artist i am stanley leonardo
sapovitz i am i am on the archery team and i was on the volleyball team this fall,
(05:38):
and outside of school i'm in a band with
some other students and i'm just kind
of like out all the time so all right thanks for that
how about you my name is russell i'm in
seventh grade um my role
in the spring production i'm a minuto minuto
what one does that go on and outside
(06:04):
of school i play volleyball i play video games and hang out with my family and
I'm in a band with the kid who spoke before.
Yeah, I'm always doing something, usually. Well, that sounds like a whole separate podcast.
(06:26):
I'll come back and we'll just do an episode on the band. Maybe,
maybe. All right, how about you? Induce yourself.
I'm Blake, and I'm in sixth grade.
I'm going to be in crew in the spring production, and I'm also in a yearbook club and I like pizza.
(06:52):
Me too. I do too.
We'll do an episode on that.
We'll review all the local pizzas. How about you? My name is Eden.
I'm in eighth grade. my current role in the spring production same with Russell,
(07:13):
a little evil henchman for the evil doctor,
villain Shot Clock, yeah I really enjoy art,
I've been working on my own show with a bunch of friends on Discord and I really
enjoy going to the pool in the summer with my friends and listen to music so
a little evil henchman yeah is there a big evil henchman?
(07:38):
The supervillain. Well, I am number one, so. Okay, you're number one. I'm evil.
You're evil. I was like, all right. There's a villain then. Yeah,
I kick someone off stage. I get to kick people off stage.
Oh. How about that? He flicks him. Sounds like a coveted role.
Let's talk a little bit about the productions that have happened this school year.
(08:00):
I know we kind of focused on the spring production with our introductions, but Mr.
Murphy, maybe Maybe tell us a little bit about what was the fall production
and how many kids are involved with the fall production?
OK, so this fall, we did a musical called Honk Junior.
The junior just denotes that the full version has been cut down to about 60 minutes.
(08:24):
And then the music in it was re-keyed for middle school age voices.
And so Honk was the story of the ugly duckling.
Which actually, in the beginning, it follows the original fable actually very closely.
And then it kind of goes on this hero's journey type stuff.
(08:47):
Really funny, lots of fun, corny puns about birds and poultry.
And Russell here was our star. I bet he was ugly.
Yeah and um in the
fall show we had a total of a total of
69 students involved in both casting crew about 33
(09:10):
cast about i think i think we had like 15 or so actually working like backstage
on the tech and the deck crew but then we had a good number of students that
would fit back there however they still helped with the sets and painting and
making props and things like that Yeah.
And I'd be interested to hear how you thought it went.
(09:31):
I know I came to Hope and Ignite, I believe. I appreciate you inviting me.
So I think I got to see the show right out of the gate. But from your perspective, how did it go?
What type of feedback did you get on the fall production? Great feedback.
It went very well. I don't think I could have asked for anything better, honestly.
(09:52):
They like to pull me along and stress me out right until opening night sometimes.
Sometimes I get a couple days of confidence, but this time it was like,
okay, guys, get it together.
And they really did. I mean, they, I mean, they really pulled it together.
(10:13):
And, you know, like, not to make them sound bad, like, every single drama teacher
in the history of drama teachers says that about every show.
But, but, like, they just, like, they amazed me.
And, you know, and the feedback was outstanding, which I could have told you
wasn't going to happen because, I mean, they were so impressive.
(10:33):
And I don't think that I could do that stuff, you know, when I was singing and
dancing and boning the stage, you know, like in this ballet.
And we had record audiences.
We had close to 130 every single, no, I'm sorry.
We had close to 200, I'm sorry, every single night.
Whereas our normal first night is usually about 130 or so.
(10:57):
We had 200 and then right around there every night, which is phenomenal.
That's phenomenal. Yeah, and I'm glad you mentioned that because I was going
to mention it was a standing room only. I stood so that other people could have a chair.
I did. That was my way of getting a little exercise.
I wasn't going to walk around and be distracting. I was at least not going to
(11:21):
stand up. Running backstage, running on stage, dancing around.
I was basically sitting during the entire production, except for when I went on stage that one time.
All right. Well, we'll wrap up, Mr. Murphy, before we move on to our students.
And tell us a little bit about the spring production coming up.
What should people know about it? The spring show is called Comic Book Artist,
(11:45):
and it is about a young man who wants to be a comic book artist.
However, he is only a janitor currently for a comic book company,
and so he wants to see a dream come true. And so then he keeps asking his boss,
the CEO, to look at his drawings.
And the boss is really just rude and just kind of blowing them off,
(12:12):
throws one in the garbage, actually.
And that's because the boss is distracted just because he wants to make money.
And so then he has ordered these special pens from the land of Peloponnesia.
And and so then he and and his artists right they use these pens to bring a
(12:33):
superhero like to life however it turns out that oops it's not a superhero it's in fact a super villain.
Surprise twist right and and so then of course chaos and so he has the only
match left over and stanley has to draw two heroes that will of course like
come to life and try to fight off this villain And so live superheroes,
(12:57):
you know, it's really like a well-written show, very funny, and overall a great show.
We have 91 students currently involved in both cast and crew,
44 on cast, about 47 or so currently on crew, which is a new record for us.
(13:18):
We've never had over 90 students involved. involved when i started we had 30
i think total so so that's all good right and it will be on may,
9th 10th and 11th at 7 30 p.m right here at um rmz in the cafetorium as i like
(13:39):
to call it and and tickets will be three dollars for students and five dollars
for four adults all right well Well, thanks for that.
I was going to make sure we got the dates in there. Yes. And given that,
it sounds like it'll probably be a hot ticket, just like the show. It will be.
Alright, well, thanks for that. We'll go around and hear from our students.
(14:00):
I'm going to ask them to tell us a little bit about what they were involved
with in the fall production.
So what were they in Honk Jr.? And then how did they think that went?
And then also elaborate a little bit on what they're working on for the spring production.
So let's start with you. Tell everyone your first name again,
and then kind of go into what you did in the fall. All right.
(14:21):
So my name is Erin and I was the following lead role in Honk Jr.
The musical. I played the mother role, Ida.
It was a really, really, really fun experience. I've never had even a follow lead before.
I had a really good time singing. I had a really good time with the cast members.
Your first musical, right? Yeah, my first musical ever. Yeah,
(14:42):
and you were excellent. Yeah. Thank you.
Yes. Thankfully not the eggs.
Um, Pat wanted to. Oh, okay. And then how about the spring production?
Tell us about the spring production.
All right. So the spring production. You kind of mentioned this.
Yeah. Yeah. Refresh our memory.
I am a Minuto evil henchman for the supervillain.
(15:07):
And it's really, really fun. I'm actually really excited for a lot of my scenes,
robbing banks, stealing jewelry, kicking people off stage.
And it being a really not very
much open-minded servant very different
from your uh oh yeah yeah and
then lastly what is it that you just enjoy about being a part of theater so
(15:32):
except the specific productions what are some things that come to mind that
you enjoy why do you why are you involved I joined drama and because I'm I got
some advice from a high schooler or I used to know,
saying it's a really nice club and I should check it out. So I did.
And I'm really glad I listened because I met a bunch of people.
(15:53):
It's a very inclusive group. And I'm not just saying this to advertise.
It's a really nice group. Everyone's so welcoming. There is no hate tolerated at all.
It's a group where everyone can get together, share their thoughts,
make a lot of fun memories, and have a really fun time. The real school, it makes it a lot better.
Well, thanks for that. Again, tell us your first name and how were you involved
(16:16):
with the fall production? It's Blake here again.
And in the fall production, I was the sun god, a.k.a. light board director.
And I also helped paint and build the set. And how about with the spring production?
I'm going to help paint and build the set again. and hopefully I will be part of the stage crew.
(16:45):
And what do you like best about being involved with drama and theater and news
production? I think it's just really fun.
And you know how you said that this isn't an advertisement? Yeah.
Join now and you'll get to see the play for free. That's right, for free.
Unless if you are only in crew and are only building.
(17:09):
Now join now. Call. Don't call anybody.
Don't call anyone. Just spam random numbers into your phone. Okay, okay.
I'll put some music to that info.
That's awesome all right again introduce yourself tell us your first name and
(17:32):
what's your what was your role in the fall production i think it was a fairly
prominent one i'm russell and the spring show i was the ugly duckling,
and what and the fall production you were
ugly duckling yes i was the lead
yep you were the lead and then how about the spring production
(17:53):
uh yeah so in the spring production i'm a
minute minuto with edin yeah
i'm pretty i'm pretty excited about it i think a lot of scenes are gonna be
fun and i think it's gonna be a cool experience yeah and what are you enjoying
most just about being in the drama club and the theater productions what comes
(18:14):
to mind i i like Like, it's weird.
I like just seeing, like, reactions, I guess.
And I get to meet a lot of cool people.
And I get to have, you know, better experience, I guess.
(18:42):
I'm not sure like when i get older if
i want to do any like something super like
theater related but i think whatever experience
i can get from all of it will definitely help
with like whatever career path i take definitely
good point kind of get back to mr murphy's point
(19:03):
and we we none of us in this room may
end up being actors or actresses but we
certainly are going to have hopefully a productive career and right
and this this helps towards that so all
right how about you again remind us who you are
and what was your role in the fall production my name is kit and in the fall
production i was beaky one of the four documents all right how about the spring
(19:26):
production you have the prominent role right yes in the spring production i
am the lead stanley leonardo sapovitz and what do you enjoy most about drama
club and being in the production production?
Honestly, I loved every part of it. I've been in theater for three years.
This is my sixth show with Mr. Murphy and my last show with middle school.
(19:47):
I am very, very excited to keep working with everybody. But I think my favorite
part from the past few years was obviously learning the elements of acting and
how it gets, like, getting a crowd to react, like you said.
And I think it's just a wonderful experience for anybody who wants to learn
how to speak in public or just getting more confident.
(20:08):
And I love the community that it's built, definitely.
Like, I've gotten to meet most of my friends now through theater.
So it's a great, great club.
Great points when Kit started theater Kit
was Kit did not want a speaking role I
did not Kit wanted Kit came
to me after auditions and said I want the smallest role possible and
(20:29):
I said okay I gave it to them but then we had one Kit drop out like in the last
week it was like three days before of that show and it wasn't a huge role however
Kit just like stepped in and did it and memorized the stuff in like a night and And ever since then,
like, now look at them, right?
(20:51):
You know, that's amazing to me. So my gosh, you improved a lot.
I've had to fill in for development right now. Yes, you did, but I know I can kind of.
Character development, right here, character development.
Sounds like that first show you got voluntold. To start with,
right? No, no, they had a choice.
I loved it so much.
(21:16):
All right. We'll go around one more time and just any favorite memory or story.
So it could be from this year, could be from other years, past productions.
We usually kind of like to round out the episode with just one story that maybe
is specific to you or something that you enjoyed.
So I'll let Mr. Murphy go first.
(21:37):
Any any favorite story or memory about everything you've been involved with?
Well, so, gosh, well, there's so many.
And and with every show you know
there's stories within stories you know and you've
been here for a while yeah right yeah yeah and
so it's not like it i'm gonna i'm going i'm gonna break your rules and tell
(21:59):
you too so uh so don't worry i'll be fast so so the first one is right after
right after the pandemic well so actually i'll tell you through i'm sorry okay
so actually like so So then, like, during the pandemic,
right, once it hit, right, of course, our spring play was canceled.
So then I went ahead and just wrote one of the first, like, virtual plays because,
(22:25):
like, that hadn't been a thing, you know, yet.
And so then in about three or four weeks, I wrote a really corny script for that.
And um and then the students and
i we rehearsed over over over the google
meet and we pulled it all together and it was really good it's still it's still
on youtube okay actually for the school district yep it's called um apart together
(22:51):
and and then and then after the pandemic or kind of of whenever we are phasing out,
you know, in the year of masks that year.
We had our first in-person show again.
And it was just, it was like random acts.
Of comedy was the name of of that
(23:14):
like show and really it was too one-ass and there it
is it was just senseless fun and and and the whole point was just to hear laughter
from like a bunch of people in a room again and it sounded it like it was like
music to my ears like I like it was a sound that you know like we hadn't heard
in such a long time you know and then it was there And my last story,
(23:36):
I'll tell you, was from my first show here at Rogers.
And so it was a set of one acts, and the name of the play was They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras.
And basically, it's about a field of grass. and
and suddenly there is a dandelion that
(23:57):
like appears in this field of grass and so and so
the whole play is kind of a commentary on how we
treat people who are different than us right because because grass
is all is is all the same and so and so anyway the grass try the grass try to
like kill the dandelion by like glaring at it they try to like they try to like
(24:21):
grow like higher than And it was not all except for one light blade of grass.
And so the light board operator, she had a long sleeve shirt on, right?
Which is normally fine. However, there is a piece missing from our light board.
And so then she just made a gesture, you know, with her hand, right?
And so then in the dark, of course, we didn't know, okay? But her sleeve caught
(24:46):
on one of the sliders, right?
On the master slider for the light board. and suddenly and suddenly it was right
near the end of that show all the lights just go right out to the blackness
and a long awkward silence ensues you know and they're waiting for the lights
and the audience kind of knows and there's some like nervous laughter and suddenly.
(25:09):
Suddenly the lead actor on stage their name
was Shane and they're now since since since
like graduated Shane just says all
of a sudden where is the the sun go and the
audience just just explodes with laughter
and and right about then i
(25:29):
finally was just just just frantically pushing
every button on the board and found the slider down and shoved it up and there
it is again like you planned it right oh yeah just like that yeah but it's so
awesome and that's why i'm sung god yes yes we have since found that missing
piece and I noticed you don't have sleeves on,
(25:51):
that's right I tell them there's no long sleeves allowed at the light board,
never again never walk behind the light board ever,
Maybe I'm a Greek sun god because of the toga thing.
Helios. Okay. Why do you know that?
It was teacher too. Yeah. Right in his wheelhouse. Right. Yeah.
(26:15):
All right. We're going to go around one more time. Again, tell us your name
and do you have a favorite memory or story?
Yeah. My name is Kit and I think my favorite memory was my first show.
It was the first time we had fully run through the show. It was dress rehearsals.
Everything was going. The tech was ready.
And the final bit was when we started learning curtain call and the music started
(26:36):
playing and there was this kid in a pickle costume and somebody else in a baloney costume,
and they got on stage they were dancing and then one of them jumped off and
tango danced down the hall and then came back and logan ran into that pole between the two doors,
i'm pretty sure somebody has a video of it somewhere i'll have to i remember this.
(26:58):
No, it was just like, I have pictures and videos of people, especially with
like curtain calls and stuff.
Rehearsals, just like the final rehearsals. We're getting used to the fact that
this show is about to be over. So everybody is just having as much fun as we can at the show.
And it's genuinely just like a great experience. Just have everybody laughing
and dancing and having fun. And running around.
And running around. Losing their mind. Right. Not too much.
(27:21):
But that's the point of this with others. That's the point of making memories.
Totally schooled over. I know it's like, it's not total chaos.
I promise organized chaos that it's controlled and fun.
Yes. Yeah. Organized chaos. Maybe.
How about you? What's your favorite? Yeah.
I'm Russell, and I think my favorite memory is when we did the Madden A show for Hong.
(27:48):
It was a time. The part I'm going to talk about is the final three songs,
or the last two scenes, where my mic came off and I went the rest of the show without a mic.
(28:13):
And that was a bad time.
It's a great memory. Well, hold on. You're not letting me finish.
I apologize. Go ahead. It's okay.
And the rest of the shows, my voice wasn't...
(28:34):
Wasn't great, but, you know, it still works, I think.
And I think it may have even been added to the character.
And after all of it was done,
when we were in the, like, backstage after the final show,
(28:56):
and it was just really cool to see everybody being like, Like,
you could tell that people were, like, proud of themselves.
And that was, I don't know, that was cool to see.
Yeah it's like that celebration at the end of
the show yeah i think that
(29:18):
was well said yeah perfect all right what about you so what's your name and
what's your favorite memory it's my name is blake and my favorite memory i'm
not sure since i've only been in one production but probably just Just theater.
All of it. It's been really fun. Good enough. All right.
(29:42):
My name is Eden, and my favorite memory will probably have to be in my seventh
grade show when bad things happened to good actors.
I can't remember which night this was. I think it was the second night.
Yeah, probably the second night. Second night's always the worst, though.
Second night for Honk was like one of the hottest. Honk was great all night.
Because that was a musical, not a play.
(30:12):
Okay so i forget who was also in
that scene i keep forgetting her name but um before we're supposed to
go on stage right before that scene my mic was turned
on and it was not supposed to be and i was saying something
to her and it was luckily it
didn't pick up but i did curse i'm not gonna say it but
like it didn't say it in podcast i'm not going to but it
(30:32):
didn't pick up superintendent too it's funny
it didn't pick up no it's
special before i can even finish my sentence i heard the audience laughing
and then everyone backstage pointed at me saying oh my god your mic is on and
my face went white i would breathe i don't
remember that i'm i don't either but i do you
thought you had my mom and dad remember that very well because they
(30:54):
teased about me they teased it to me when i got home like that's
all they teased about all night all right well thanks for
sharing those favorite memories with me mr murphy as
we kind of draw this episode to a close anything else
you'd like to leave with or anything else here come see the spring show it's
gonna be great it will uh once again once again it is on may may 9th 10th and
(31:17):
11th right here at rogers middle school all right well that's well said uh guys
thanks for joining to me for this episode. It's been a pleasure.
Thank you. Definitely the most liveliest group.
That was drama. No surprise at all. So drama.
It's been such a great group. Yeah. That's right. So again, thank you guys.
(31:39):
Yeah. Thank you guys. Yes.
Music.
Thanks for listening to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District
that highlights the people and stories that make the district great.
(31:59):
In the Afton School District, education is the most important thing we do. We'll see you out there.
Music.
Music.
(00:20):
Welcome to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District that highlights
the people and stories that make the district great.
I'm your host, Superintendent Travis Brock, and in the Afton School District,
education is the most important thing we do.
Music.
(00:42):
Welcome to this episode of the afton unplugged podcast
and today i'm at rogers middle school talking with a staff member mr murphy
and some students who are involved with the rogers middle school productions
they have a fall production uh honk junior and then they're going to tell us
us about their spring production, which is Comic Book Artists.
(01:04):
So guys, thanks for joining me, and let's go ahead and get into some introductions.
So Mr. Murphy, you want to introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about what
you do in Afton, how long you've been in the district, are there other jobs
and roles you have with the district, and then anything outside of work that
you might want to share with us. We'll turn it over to you.
Okay, so I teach most of the time at the high high school.
(01:27):
I teach drama, film, and creative comm arts, and sometimes English up there at the high school.
And then almost every afternoon, I'm down here at Rogers running our drama club.
I've been with Afton for six years.
First, I was down here doing both the teaching and the drama club here for two
years. And then after that, I was moved up to the high school.
(01:49):
And so now I get to see the students now sometimes from sixth grade all the
way through my senior year, which is It was actually really fun.
And then before Afton, so many moons ago, I was first a teacher down in the small town of Houston,
(02:09):
which is down in the Ozarks, about 45 miles south of Rolla.
And there, that was, like, I still taught drama and speech and that.
However, that was also a speech coaching job. And that just wasn't a good fit for me.
And it was just you know like far
away from from family um and
plus at the time i i was really in to like
(02:30):
summer camp and so then after that i became
a camp uh director for uh seven years uh
full-time with two different um ymcas first
for five years up in auburn new york and then for for um and then for like a
year and a half out in flint hills and kansas and so there i kind of just I
(02:52):
just like developed a love for just growing life skills in students,
life skills, life skills and social skills on that.
And so now, but well, and so, and so eventually I kind of wanted to like leave
the office and then get back into working with kids again.
And so then that's when I moved back to St. Louis and, and then became,
(03:13):
well here again. So, and so, so.
Now, I kind of apply that love for the social growth and the growth and life
skills into the job I do now.
So then in my fine arts classes, certainly at the high school,
but definitely here at the drama club too, here at Rogers.
(03:37):
And so, yeah, we do theater, and yeah, it's super fun, and yes, the shows are good.
But eventually, they move on, you know. And, you know, most people probably
aren't going to be actors.
However, they will still have the life skills and social skills that they have.
As far as outside of this, I love to go hiking and I love to go camping.
(04:01):
And so if you ever want a tip on a trail, let me know. I've probably done it.
If it's somewhere in Missouri, I've probably been there.
So hiking, backpacking, and camping.
So that's probably my number one hobby outside of
theater otherwise it's it's theater all right
well thanks for that and i know every time the staff have
(04:23):
like a step competition or like getting in the most miles i think you're a top
performer usually because you're always hiking you know being active and so
i know you're always way up on the leaderboard with getting your steps in it's
that and the fact that my classroom at at the high school is very far away from
the bathrooms bedrooms from the copy machine.
And then here, I'm like around here a lot too, just on my face.
(04:47):
So you're very active at work too.
Yeah. Well, thanks for introducing yourself.
We're lucky to have you both at the middle school here and at the high school.
And I'm sure the kids enjoy seeing you, like you mentioned, for seven years,
really, from sixth grade through 12th grade. Yeah.
So let's go ahead and meet some of our students that are here.
Maybe tell us your first name, what grade you're in, what is your role in the
(05:11):
spring production that's coming up, and are there other things you're interested
in, either at school or outside of school? How about we start with you?
My name is Kit, and I'm in eighth grade. Okay.
I am the lead role in the spring show comic book artist i am stanley leonardo
sapovitz i am i am on the archery team and i was on the volleyball team this fall,
(05:38):
and outside of school i'm in a band with
some other students and i'm just kind
of like out all the time so all right thanks for that
how about you my name is russell i'm in
seventh grade um my role
in the spring production i'm a minuto minuto
what one does that go on and outside
(06:04):
of school i play volleyball i play video games and hang out with my family and
I'm in a band with the kid who spoke before.
Yeah, I'm always doing something, usually. Well, that sounds like a whole separate podcast.
(06:26):
I'll come back and we'll just do an episode on the band. Maybe,
maybe. All right, how about you? Induce yourself.
I'm Blake, and I'm in sixth grade.
I'm going to be in crew in the spring production, and I'm also in a yearbook club and I like pizza.
(06:52):
Me too. I do too.
We'll do an episode on that.
We'll review all the local pizzas. How about you? My name is Eden.
I'm in eighth grade. my current role in the spring production same with Russell,
(07:13):
a little evil henchman for the evil doctor,
villain Shot Clock, yeah I really enjoy art,
I've been working on my own show with a bunch of friends on Discord and I really
enjoy going to the pool in the summer with my friends and listen to music so
a little evil henchman yeah is there a big evil henchman?
(07:38):
The supervillain. Well, I am number one, so. Okay, you're number one. I'm evil.
You're evil. I was like, all right. There's a villain then. Yeah,
I kick someone off stage. I get to kick people off stage.
Oh. How about that? He flicks him. Sounds like a coveted role.
Let's talk a little bit about the productions that have happened this school year.
(08:00):
I know we kind of focused on the spring production with our introductions, but Mr.
Murphy, maybe Maybe tell us a little bit about what was the fall production
and how many kids are involved with the fall production?
OK, so this fall, we did a musical called Honk Junior.
The junior just denotes that the full version has been cut down to about 60 minutes.
(08:24):
And then the music in it was re-keyed for middle school age voices.
And so Honk was the story of the ugly duckling.
Which actually, in the beginning, it follows the original fable actually very closely.
And then it kind of goes on this hero's journey type stuff.
(08:47):
Really funny, lots of fun, corny puns about birds and poultry.
And Russell here was our star. I bet he was ugly.
Yeah and um in the
fall show we had a total of a total of
69 students involved in both casting crew about 33
(09:10):
cast about i think i think we had like 15 or so actually working like backstage
on the tech and the deck crew but then we had a good number of students that
would fit back there however they still helped with the sets and painting and
making props and things like that Yeah.
And I'd be interested to hear how you thought it went.
(09:31):
I know I came to Hope and Ignite, I believe. I appreciate you inviting me.
So I think I got to see the show right out of the gate. But from your perspective, how did it go?
What type of feedback did you get on the fall production? Great feedback.
It went very well. I don't think I could have asked for anything better, honestly.
(09:52):
They like to pull me along and stress me out right until opening night sometimes.
Sometimes I get a couple days of confidence, but this time it was like,
okay, guys, get it together.
And they really did. I mean, they, I mean, they really pulled it together.
(10:13):
And, you know, like, not to make them sound bad, like, every single drama teacher
in the history of drama teachers says that about every show.
But, but, like, they just, like, they amazed me.
And, you know, and the feedback was outstanding, which I could have told you
wasn't going to happen because, I mean, they were so impressive.
(10:33):
And I don't think that I could do that stuff, you know, when I was singing and
dancing and boning the stage, you know, like in this ballet.
And we had record audiences.
We had close to 130 every single, no, I'm sorry.
We had close to 200, I'm sorry, every single night.
Whereas our normal first night is usually about 130 or so.
(10:57):
We had 200 and then right around there every night, which is phenomenal.
That's phenomenal. Yeah, and I'm glad you mentioned that because I was going
to mention it was a standing room only. I stood so that other people could have a chair.
I did. That was my way of getting a little exercise.
I wasn't going to walk around and be distracting. I was at least not going to
(11:21):
stand up. Running backstage, running on stage, dancing around.
I was basically sitting during the entire production, except for when I went on stage that one time.
All right. Well, we'll wrap up, Mr. Murphy, before we move on to our students.
And tell us a little bit about the spring production coming up.
What should people know about it? The spring show is called Comic Book Artist,
(11:45):
and it is about a young man who wants to be a comic book artist.
However, he is only a janitor currently for a comic book company,
and so he wants to see a dream come true. And so then he keeps asking his boss,
the CEO, to look at his drawings.
And the boss is really just rude and just kind of blowing them off,
(12:12):
throws one in the garbage, actually.
And that's because the boss is distracted just because he wants to make money.
And so then he has ordered these special pens from the land of Peloponnesia.
And and so then he and and his artists right they use these pens to bring a
(12:33):
superhero like to life however it turns out that oops it's not a superhero it's in fact a super villain.
Surprise twist right and and so then of course chaos and so he has the only
match left over and stanley has to draw two heroes that will of course like
come to life and try to fight off this villain And so live superheroes,
(12:57):
you know, it's really like a well-written show, very funny, and overall a great show.
We have 91 students currently involved in both cast and crew,
44 on cast, about 47 or so currently on crew, which is a new record for us.
(13:18):
We've never had over 90 students involved. involved when i started we had 30
i think total so so that's all good right and it will be on may,
9th 10th and 11th at 7 30 p.m right here at um rmz in the cafetorium as i like
(13:39):
to call it and and tickets will be three dollars for students and five dollars
for four adults all right well Well, thanks for that.
I was going to make sure we got the dates in there. Yes. And given that,
it sounds like it'll probably be a hot ticket, just like the show. It will be.
Alright, well, thanks for that. We'll go around and hear from our students.
(14:00):
I'm going to ask them to tell us a little bit about what they were involved
with in the fall production.
So what were they in Honk Jr.? And then how did they think that went?
And then also elaborate a little bit on what they're working on for the spring production.
So let's start with you. Tell everyone your first name again,
and then kind of go into what you did in the fall. All right.
(14:21):
So my name is Erin and I was the following lead role in Honk Jr.
The musical. I played the mother role, Ida.
It was a really, really, really fun experience. I've never had even a follow lead before.
I had a really good time singing. I had a really good time with the cast members.
Your first musical, right? Yeah, my first musical ever. Yeah,
(14:42):
and you were excellent. Yeah. Thank you.
Yes. Thankfully not the eggs.
Um, Pat wanted to. Oh, okay. And then how about the spring production?
Tell us about the spring production.
All right. So the spring production. You kind of mentioned this.
Yeah. Yeah. Refresh our memory.
I am a Minuto evil henchman for the supervillain.
(15:07):
And it's really, really fun. I'm actually really excited for a lot of my scenes,
robbing banks, stealing jewelry, kicking people off stage.
And it being a really not very
much open-minded servant very different
from your uh oh yeah yeah and
then lastly what is it that you just enjoy about being a part of theater so
(15:32):
except the specific productions what are some things that come to mind that
you enjoy why do you why are you involved I joined drama and because I'm I got
some advice from a high schooler or I used to know,
saying it's a really nice club and I should check it out. So I did.
And I'm really glad I listened because I met a bunch of people.
(15:53):
It's a very inclusive group. And I'm not just saying this to advertise.
It's a really nice group. Everyone's so welcoming. There is no hate tolerated at all.
It's a group where everyone can get together, share their thoughts,
make a lot of fun memories, and have a really fun time. The real school, it makes it a lot better.
Well, thanks for that. Again, tell us your first name and how were you involved
(16:16):
with the fall production? It's Blake here again.
And in the fall production, I was the sun god, a.k.a. light board director.
And I also helped paint and build the set. And how about with the spring production?
I'm going to help paint and build the set again. and hopefully I will be part of the stage crew.
(16:45):
And what do you like best about being involved with drama and theater and news
production? I think it's just really fun.
And you know how you said that this isn't an advertisement? Yeah.
Join now and you'll get to see the play for free. That's right, for free.
Unless if you are only in crew and are only building.
(17:09):
Now join now. Call. Don't call anybody.
Don't call anyone. Just spam random numbers into your phone. Okay, okay.
I'll put some music to that info.
That's awesome all right again introduce yourself tell us your first name and
(17:32):
what's your what was your role in the fall production i think it was a fairly
prominent one i'm russell and the spring show i was the ugly duckling,
and what and the fall production you were
ugly duckling yes i was the lead
yep you were the lead and then how about the spring production
(17:53):
uh yeah so in the spring production i'm a
minute minuto with edin yeah
i'm pretty i'm pretty excited about it i think a lot of scenes are gonna be
fun and i think it's gonna be a cool experience yeah and what are you enjoying
most just about being in the drama club and the theater productions what comes
(18:14):
to mind i i like Like, it's weird.
I like just seeing, like, reactions, I guess.
And I get to meet a lot of cool people.
And I get to have, you know, better experience, I guess.
(18:42):
I'm not sure like when i get older if
i want to do any like something super like
theater related but i think whatever experience
i can get from all of it will definitely help
with like whatever career path i take definitely
good point kind of get back to mr murphy's point
(19:03):
and we we none of us in this room may
end up being actors or actresses but we
certainly are going to have hopefully a productive career and right
and this this helps towards that so all
right how about you again remind us who you are
and what was your role in the fall production my name is kit and in the fall
production i was beaky one of the four documents all right how about the spring
(19:26):
production you have the prominent role right yes in the spring production i
am the lead stanley leonardo sapovitz and what do you enjoy most about drama
club and being in the production production?
Honestly, I loved every part of it. I've been in theater for three years.
This is my sixth show with Mr. Murphy and my last show with middle school.
(19:47):
I am very, very excited to keep working with everybody. But I think my favorite
part from the past few years was obviously learning the elements of acting and
how it gets, like, getting a crowd to react, like you said.
And I think it's just a wonderful experience for anybody who wants to learn
how to speak in public or just getting more confident.
(20:08):
And I love the community that it's built, definitely.
Like, I've gotten to meet most of my friends now through theater.
So it's a great, great club.
Great points when Kit started theater Kit
was Kit did not want a speaking role I
did not Kit wanted Kit came
to me after auditions and said I want the smallest role possible and
(20:29):
I said okay I gave it to them but then we had one Kit drop out like in the last
week it was like three days before of that show and it wasn't a huge role however
Kit just like stepped in and did it and memorized the stuff in like a night and And ever since then,
like, now look at them, right?
(20:51):
You know, that's amazing to me. So my gosh, you improved a lot.
I've had to fill in for development right now. Yes, you did, but I know I can kind of.
Character development, right here, character development.
Sounds like that first show you got voluntold. To start with,
right? No, no, they had a choice.
I loved it so much.
(21:16):
All right. We'll go around one more time and just any favorite memory or story.
So it could be from this year, could be from other years, past productions.
We usually kind of like to round out the episode with just one story that maybe
is specific to you or something that you enjoyed.
So I'll let Mr. Murphy go first.
(21:37):
Any any favorite story or memory about everything you've been involved with?
Well, so, gosh, well, there's so many.
And and with every show you know
there's stories within stories you know and you've
been here for a while yeah right yeah yeah and
so it's not like it i'm gonna i'm going i'm gonna break your rules and tell
(21:59):
you too so uh so don't worry i'll be fast so so the first one is right after
right after the pandemic well so actually i'll tell you through i'm sorry okay
so actually like so So then, like, during the pandemic,
right, once it hit, right, of course, our spring play was canceled.
So then I went ahead and just wrote one of the first, like, virtual plays because,
(22:25):
like, that hadn't been a thing, you know, yet.
And so then in about three or four weeks, I wrote a really corny script for that.
And um and then the students and
i we rehearsed over over over the google
meet and we pulled it all together and it was really good it's still it's still
on youtube okay actually for the school district yep it's called um apart together
(22:51):
and and then and then after the pandemic or kind of of whenever we are phasing out,
you know, in the year of masks that year.
We had our first in-person show again.
And it was just, it was like random acts.
Of comedy was the name of of that
(23:14):
like show and really it was too one-ass and there it
is it was just senseless fun and and and the whole point was just to hear laughter
from like a bunch of people in a room again and it sounded it like it was like
music to my ears like I like it was a sound that you know like we hadn't heard
in such a long time you know and then it was there And my last story,
(23:36):
I'll tell you, was from my first show here at Rogers.
And so it was a set of one acts, and the name of the play was They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras.
And basically, it's about a field of grass. and
and suddenly there is a dandelion that
(23:57):
like appears in this field of grass and so and so
the whole play is kind of a commentary on how we
treat people who are different than us right because because grass
is all is is all the same and so and so anyway the grass try the grass try to
like kill the dandelion by like glaring at it they try to like they try to like
(24:21):
grow like higher than And it was not all except for one light blade of grass.
And so the light board operator, she had a long sleeve shirt on, right?
Which is normally fine. However, there is a piece missing from our light board.
And so then she just made a gesture, you know, with her hand, right?
And so then in the dark, of course, we didn't know, okay? But her sleeve caught
(24:46):
on one of the sliders, right?
On the master slider for the light board. and suddenly and suddenly it was right
near the end of that show all the lights just go right out to the blackness
and a long awkward silence ensues you know and they're waiting for the lights
and the audience kind of knows and there's some like nervous laughter and suddenly.
(25:09):
Suddenly the lead actor on stage their name
was Shane and they're now since since since
like graduated Shane just says all
of a sudden where is the the sun go and the
audience just just explodes with laughter
and and right about then i
(25:29):
finally was just just just frantically pushing
every button on the board and found the slider down and shoved it up and there
it is again like you planned it right oh yeah just like that yeah but it's so
awesome and that's why i'm sung god yes yes we have since found that missing
piece and I noticed you don't have sleeves on,
(25:51):
that's right I tell them there's no long sleeves allowed at the light board,
never again never walk behind the light board ever,
Maybe I'm a Greek sun god because of the toga thing.
Helios. Okay. Why do you know that?
It was teacher too. Yeah. Right in his wheelhouse. Right. Yeah.
(26:15):
All right. We're going to go around one more time. Again, tell us your name
and do you have a favorite memory or story?
Yeah. My name is Kit and I think my favorite memory was my first show.
It was the first time we had fully run through the show. It was dress rehearsals.
Everything was going. The tech was ready.
And the final bit was when we started learning curtain call and the music started
(26:36):
playing and there was this kid in a pickle costume and somebody else in a baloney costume,
and they got on stage they were dancing and then one of them jumped off and
tango danced down the hall and then came back and logan ran into that pole between the two doors,
i'm pretty sure somebody has a video of it somewhere i'll have to i remember this.
(26:58):
No, it was just like, I have pictures and videos of people, especially with
like curtain calls and stuff.
Rehearsals, just like the final rehearsals. We're getting used to the fact that
this show is about to be over. So everybody is just having as much fun as we can at the show.
And it's genuinely just like a great experience. Just have everybody laughing
and dancing and having fun. And running around.
And running around. Losing their mind. Right. Not too much.
(27:21):
But that's the point of this with others. That's the point of making memories.
Totally schooled over. I know it's like, it's not total chaos.
I promise organized chaos that it's controlled and fun.
Yes. Yeah. Organized chaos. Maybe.
How about you? What's your favorite? Yeah.
I'm Russell, and I think my favorite memory is when we did the Madden A show for Hong.
(27:48):
It was a time. The part I'm going to talk about is the final three songs,
or the last two scenes, where my mic came off and I went the rest of the show without a mic.
(28:13):
And that was a bad time.
It's a great memory. Well, hold on. You're not letting me finish.
I apologize. Go ahead. It's okay.
And the rest of the shows, my voice wasn't...
(28:34):
Wasn't great, but, you know, it still works, I think.
And I think it may have even been added to the character.
And after all of it was done,
when we were in the, like, backstage after the final show,
(28:56):
and it was just really cool to see everybody being like, Like,
you could tell that people were, like, proud of themselves.
And that was, I don't know, that was cool to see.
Yeah it's like that celebration at the end of
the show yeah i think that
(29:18):
was well said yeah perfect all right what about you so what's your name and
what's your favorite memory it's my name is blake and my favorite memory i'm
not sure since i've only been in one production but probably just Just theater.
All of it. It's been really fun. Good enough. All right.
(29:42):
My name is Eden, and my favorite memory will probably have to be in my seventh
grade show when bad things happened to good actors.
I can't remember which night this was. I think it was the second night.
Yeah, probably the second night. Second night's always the worst, though.
Second night for Honk was like one of the hottest. Honk was great all night.
Because that was a musical, not a play.
(30:12):
Okay so i forget who was also in
that scene i keep forgetting her name but um before we're supposed to
go on stage right before that scene my mic was turned
on and it was not supposed to be and i was saying something
to her and it was luckily it
didn't pick up but i did curse i'm not gonna say it but
like it didn't say it in podcast i'm not going to but it
(30:32):
didn't pick up superintendent too it's funny
it didn't pick up no it's
special before i can even finish my sentence i heard the audience laughing
and then everyone backstage pointed at me saying oh my god your mic is on and
my face went white i would breathe i don't
remember that i'm i don't either but i do you
thought you had my mom and dad remember that very well because they
(30:54):
teased about me they teased it to me when i got home like that's
all they teased about all night all right well thanks for
sharing those favorite memories with me mr murphy as
we kind of draw this episode to a close anything else
you'd like to leave with or anything else here come see the spring show it's
gonna be great it will uh once again once again it is on may may 9th 10th and
(31:17):
11th right here at rogers middle school all right well that's well said uh guys
thanks for joining to me for this episode. It's been a pleasure.
Thank you. Definitely the most liveliest group.
That was drama. No surprise at all. So drama.
It's been such a great group. Yeah. That's right. So again, thank you guys.
(31:39):
Yeah. Thank you guys. Yes.
Music.
Thanks for listening to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District
that highlights the people and stories that make the district great.
(31:59):
In the Afton School District, education is the most important thing we do. We'll see you out there.
Music.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.