Membership Spotlight – December 2024

I lived in the theatre! Between performing in the Philadelphia theatre scene, school shows, show choir, and theatre camp, I was doing two to five shows at once. In my free time, my best friend and I would lip sync for our lives in my basement by creating original jukebox musicals with improv, a box of dresses from the 1980s, and a pipe and drape curtain rig my parents built. If anyone is looking to produce a Smash Mouth/Madonna/George Frideric Handel extravaganza, nine year old me has a selection of titles for you.

We presented Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s The Pa’akai We Bring during my first conference with TYA/USA, and there’s a magical moment in the show when the cast engages the audience in song and movement. For me, this was extra magical because it was the first time after over twenty years of performing for youth and families that I could look around a full house and see hundreds of adult theatremakers who cared for theatre for young audiences the way I do.

I’ve been a longtime fan of Cartoon Network’s miniseries Over the Garden Wall due to its nostalgic art style and music, the twists and turns of its fantasy storyline, and its overall ookie spooky weirdness. This fall I found myself listening to deep dive podcast episodes about the lore behind the series, looking up fanart, and thinking about how the essence of this show and the creation of it encompasses all of the things I value in storytelling. It has me thinking about the kind of work I want to create next. It’s so inspiring to know how many big names signed on to lend their voices to this small, risky project (Elija Wood, Melanie Lynskey, Christopher Lloyd, John Cleese, Tim Curry, the list goes on!).

Honorable mention: the memification of the “Defying Gravity” battle cry.

I love hearing the attendees’ enthusiasm for the new work Debbie Wicks La Puma presents at the Song Slam Cabaret! It gets me excited for all of the new theatre we get to look forward to in the seasons to come.

As a kid, I performed at a repertory theatre alongside resident actors who wore many hats both onstage and off, so when I entered the industry as a young adult I gravitated towards companies that provided opportunities for me to do the same. A majority of these companies did theatre for young audiences! By performing in small-cast touring shows I had the opportunity to play a variety of roles that did not confine me to one “type” and assume offstage responsibilities that further connected me to the work like load-in and strike, wardrobe duties, run crew, and teaching artistry. I’ve found that the most creative and collaborative work in the industry is in the theatre for young audiences field!

I host a theatre for young audiences podcast titled Pipe and Drape, which is available on all major podcast platforms. I’m currently lining up guest interviews for season 5 and would love to interview members of the TYA/USA network!

You can reach me via email at sfala@tyausa.org! All information about my podcast and performance work appears on @pipeanddrapestories on Instagram and stephenfala.com.

I had the very classic experience of being an intensely outgoing kid whose parents signed her sign-up for a weeklong theater summer camp as an outlet for that aspect of my personality. I was five years old and it was a fairytale-themed creative drama class. I left that week with a periwinkle satin “cape” (i.e. a raggedy piece of fabric I built my “character” around) and an indelible love for theater that has carried me to where I am today!

This is so hard as a sentimental sap—I have too many! I’ll say that the Registration block at the beginning of the 2023 Festival & Conference in Arizona was incredibly special for me. I was profoundly moved witnessing colleagues reuniting at what was our first in-person Conference in four years. It was also my first TYA/USA Conference and a moment before the whirlwind of the event where I got to share hugs and space in 3D with folks I had gotten to know over years in Zoom affinity groups. The community means so much to me and this stands out as a magical memory where I saw the cultivation of it in online spaces joyfully reaped in real life. The BIPOC Affinity Meet-Ups at the last two conferences have been this too!

After years of it being repeatedly recommended to me, I finally read The Idiot by Elif Batuman. I should’ve heeded those recs sooner! It was the kind of read where I missed my stop while commuting home on the subway because I was so engrossed. I love that Batuman is a true “reader’s writer” and the voice of the protagonist is riotously funny! I finished it around midnight one night, and the next morning I was out at my local bookstore buying the sequel, Either/Or—which I also adored and devoured!

To be in a brand new Conference city and at the fabulous Kennedy Center! It’s fun for me that none of the three Conferences I’ve now been a part of planning have been in the same place. Each site presents new opportunities and offerings. It’s exciting to have a hand in puzzling out how to create fresh experiences for our attendees while preserving the essence of what makes a TYA/USA Conference a TYA/USA Conference!

Young people are worthy of thought-provoking, affirming, and intentionally-made theater. I am uncompromising in my hope that someday TYA won’t be considered by anyone as a sort of reductive version of “mainstream” theater. My aesthetic tastes and interests now are unquestionably informed by the art I experienced as a young person! It’s a circle, not a segmented line!

If I were not a career arts administrator, I would be working in academia as a comparative literature professor specializing in 19th-century Russian novels! If you’re looking to chat Tolstoy or Dostoevsky, I am your gal!

Send me an email at rlee@tyausa.org!

I grew up training and performing onstage as an actor at regional theatres in the Philadelphia area. When I was five years old, I stood onstage at the Academy of Music and told my mom “I am home.”

Watching Honolulu Theatre for Youth perform our opening 2023 Festival show, The Pa’akai We Bring at the Tempe Center for the Arts at our first conference back in person after the pandemic. The entire audience was so engaged, singing along and performing the dances in their seats. The energy was palpable.

I am enamored of the musician Jon Batiste. I was profoundly moved by his documentary, “American Symphony” about the composition of his original symphony and his wife’s struggle with leukemia. I highly recommend listening to his newest album, “Beethoven Blues”, which is an innovative reimagining of Beethoven’s compositions. Also check out his recent “Fresh Air” interview on NPR, where he plays live from the album and talks about his work at length.

The opening moments of the conference. I love seeing the amazing energy of our attendees: the reuniting hugs, the new connections, the excited conversation.

Theatre provides young people with a powerful outlet to grow and learn about themselves, their families, and the world around them.

I love hiking and have climbed a few of the Adirondak’s high peaks!

Please email me at smorgulis@tyausa.org. I love connecting with our members.