-= NMSU PANORAMA - Summer 2006 =- Blending Education with Drama

Features

Blending Education with Drama

By Bob Nosbisch '86 '93

NMSU graduates are benefiting from a growing partnership between NMSU Theatre Arts and the Creede Repertory Theatre

If all the world is truly a stage as William Shakespeare wrote more than 400 years ago, then on this part of the stage, sparkling stars in the Colorado sky replace the bright neon lights of Broadway and the majestic Rocky Mountains are a magnificent substitute for the vertigo-inspiring spires of Manhattan’s skyscrapers.

Welcome to Creede, Colo., a former mining town that has struck gold by engaging its theater in a partnership with New Mexico State University. Foregoing the concrete canyons of New York City for the wide-open spaces of western Colorado, NMSU theater faculty and students are sharing their skills, talents and time with the Creede Repertory Theatre (CRT). In return, they have a picturesque location in which to practice their craft, not to mention seasoned professionals with whom to work.

From a historic bordello to a place to stage Othello, from red lights to theaterlights, the story of this “Broadway of the West” is captivating.

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A brief history of the Creede Repertory Theatre

It may have been more than 40 decades since Shakespeare penned As You Like It, but it’s only been about 40 years since Creede faced the closing of its mines. The belief was that a theater could save the town economically, so a minister named Jim Livingston solicited regional colleges in an attempt to find drama students who were willing to come to Creede to start a theater. When a dozen Kansas University students followed Horace Greeley’s advice to “go west, young man” (and woman), the community of Creede housed and fed them, helped them build sets, found World War II uniforms and gave them the space they needed to put on a show.

The first play, Mr. Roberts, was performed before a packed house and this triumph helped spark more success as the CRT continued to grow. Many loyal generations who came from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and elsewhere to enjoy the scenery and to fish supported the CRT, giving their time and money. In 1992, they rebuilt the theater and then raised money to create company housing, which earned them a Colorado Historical Society accolade for salvaging what once was a bordello.

When the CRT started, its goal was to be the “between place,” between academic theater and professional theater, where people just beginning their careers could get their first gigs as actors or designers, says Tom Smith, an associate professor of theater arts at NMSU.

“There’s a great spirit of camaraderie at Creede,” says Smith, a veteran actor, playwright, director and instructor. “Everyone’s motivated to make a great impression. Creede used to do four or five shows per summer, but now it’s up to eight or nine in true rotating rep with a new show added every two weeks, cycled in at night.”

Last fall, the CRT’s season was being produced at the same time as two touring shows and this was too much to handle, Smith says, so the American Southwest Theatre Company and NMSU Theatre Arts co-produced these shows, designed them, built sets and held rehearsals on the NMSU campus, allowing the CRT to focus on its season.

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Theater as a teaching tool

Tom Smith directs a student at the Hershel Zohn Theatre at NMSU. Photo by Darren Phillips

The CRT also added education to its mission, starting a program in 1974 that metamorphosed into the CRT Outreach Tour in which live theater was taken to hundreds of students of all ages in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

Thanks to the talent and resources provided by NMSU and the American Southwest Theatre Company, the Creede Repertory Theatre was able to improve the quality and relevance of its 2005 Outreach Tour.

“We had a basis for trust with NMSU because of a long history of hiring their talented faculty, students and alumni as important members of the CRT company,” says Maurice LaMee, Creede’s executive and artistic director.

Jessie Gilmer ’68, a graphic designer who also helps with CRT’s public relations efforts, says the theater was recently named by USA Today as “one of the top reps (repertories) in the country.” More than 19,000 people attended CRT shows last year, making 2005 the theater’s best year yet. Gilmer, like LaMee, attributed much of the theater’s growing success to the “many, many students from NMSU in our cast and on our production staff through the years.” Like many people involved with the CRT, Gilmer is connected to Las Cruces. She earned her master’s degree in English from NMSU.

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Diversity through theater

Last year, CRT’s educational productions focused on diversity issues. Smith wrote ESL for middle and high school students and turned four Hispanic tales into the bilingual play Amada’s Diary for elementary school children.

Smith said ESL, which stands for “English as a Second Language,” was difficult to write because the schools that booked the show wanted the experience to be educational, but “students at that age are sniffing out anything that seems like it’s preachy or has a message and they will rebel against that.”

Writing Amada’s Diary also was a bit tricky, because all four tales that Smith combined to create this play for elementary school children were very different in tone. Also, Smith did not like the idea of dialogue in one language (in this case, Spanish) followed by interpretation in another language (English). Besides slowing down the story, truly bilingual children heard the story twice, so Smith worked to circumvent that challenge.

The NMSU connection continues with CRT’s cast members, three of whom – Darin Cabot ’02, Felisa Smithson ’05 and Jesus Villanueva ’05 – performed in Smith’s plays last year, taking the stage 54 times as they entertained about 12,000 young people in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Villanueva, who performed in Spanish and English and helped CRT staff translate English study guides into Spanish, called his experience with the theater “amazing.”

“Every aspect of the theater was taken care of with utmost care and love for the art,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva may be embarking on a long relationship with the Creede Repertory Theatre, just as Smith’s history with the theater goes back a number of years.

“I got my first job in Creede when I was in college, working at the box office,” Smith says.

So what does the future hold for this alliance between NMSU and the Creede Repertory Theatre? Although future shows have not yet been selected, Smith is optimistic.

“We hope to continue this artistic collaboration for many years,” Smith says, “and we hope that businesses in both New Mexico and Colorado will see the benefit of this partnership and sign up as sponsors or donors.”

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