On Building—On Stage and Off

Tethering the joys of performance arts to the joys of self-confidence

By Tutt Stapp-McKiernan

Published in: Warrenton Lifestyle Magazine - November 2024, p. 12 & Haymarket Gainesville Lifestyle Magazine - November 2024, p. 10

“Sixth graders built functional stairs for our Addams Family set. Were they perfectly square? No. But they were square and plumb enough…and after the show, those sixth graders brought their parents on stage and said, ‘Dad, I built this!’” 

—Michael “Jonz” Jones

Wakefield School in The Plains has a long history of celebrating the performing arts and their invaluable role in education, but for many years, one of the key lessons was, Hey, who needs a fancy facility? Great theater can be made ANYWHERE! As the school combatted its lack of a stage or auditorium with imaginatively-staged performances in gyms, dining halls, outdoors, and even in various parking lots, intrepid thespians certainly proved this statement to be true, and lessons about perseverance, creativity, and, yes, great theater, were learned well by students who will certainly never forget them.

With the completion nearly three years ago of its new state-of-the-art theater and auditorium, though, Wakefield has had the opportunity to expand the experiences it can offer its students: more main-stage shows for a broader range of ages, technical theater opportunities that could only have been dreamed of in the past, more performing arts courses available in all three divisions, and a rising tide of excitement among students about every aspect of bringing performance to an audience. And Wakefield performing arts faculty are equally enthusiastic about the benefits of the school’s energetic new approaches and opportunities, starting with their youngest beneficiaries.

In 4th and 5th grades, students have a new twist this year: each week there is one traditional music class and a new performing arts class. Combined with the addition to the year’s mainstage performances of a 4th-8th grade musical, the new class allows these youngest thespians not only to learn one of the numbers from the upcoming musical and perform it in the show, but also to begin participating in the endless behind-the-scenes skills of technical theater, from scene painting to props creation and beyond. 

By sixth grade, students who have gotten hooked in Lower School can choose from a range of Middle School performing arts courses and clubs, focused on both on- and off-stage roles–and growing numbers are more than eager to do so.

“There is SO much excitement building up from the younger grades,” says Katy Miner, music and theater teacher and stage director at Wakefield. “It’s exciting for us as faculty!”

Does youthful experience with the performing arts help students gain confidence? According to Mrs. Miner, the answer is an emphatic “Yes!”

“I believe incredibly in how being in performing arts shapes you,” says Mrs. Miner. “After being here for several years and knowing these kids and watching them grow and change, I think some of the kids who have gravitated towards theater you could absolutely say that that was their personality, they were very outgoing, very confident, but actually it [can be even] more exciting to see how it has brought kids out of their shells, kids who were more quiet and not as confident who came to be more outgoing and confident.” 

But it’s more than just what they do on stage that makes the difference, she says. “Theater is a family, and it’s a place to fit in…here, what we have really tried so hard to do is create an environment that not only allows the kids to be super proud of the product they’re putting on, but also ensures that the kids genuinely enjoy being together…Anybody who is willing to put in the effort, 100% we will take them and teach them and help them. We find a place for everybody.”

Michael “Jonz” Jones, Wakefield’s Director of the Arts and technical theater guru, agrees that the department is building more than just sets.

“We’re building a family–the entire theater group is a family,” he says.”We have 70+ students who come to our theater clubs on a regular basis. I have close to 16 kids every Wednesday [for open tech call] to help build things. [This week] I had 8th graders decorating and dressing out props for the Haunted House, 7th graders were cutting lumber for me, while my 6th graders were screwing things together. They were working together–I have 8th graders supporting 6th graders because they’ve never done this before. I have Upper Schoolers who come here on a regular basis to be leaders to 4th and 5th graders and to Middle Schoolers.”

And, he says, everyone, of every age, has grown: “Sometimes if I talk about one of the Upper Schoolers to other faculty members, they will say, ‘Are we talking about the same student?’” 

Helping every student find that niche is everybody’s business in the performing arts. “I’ve worked a lot in private training with individual students over my career,” says Mrs. Miner, “and I’m really good at pulling the best out of people–seeing that every single person has their strengths and their talent, and it’s helping get that out of them, so each kid can shine in their own way.”