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Schaeffer faculty member Jim Kluth started drama productions in 1995, despite the fact that the school was renting space from a local church and there was no suitable place to stage a play. Nonetheless, the program launched with a production of A.A. Milne's The Ugly Duckling.
In 2002, we opened the Violet Wright Memorial Gymnasium and auditorium, which gave us a stage and a large venue for drama. Typically plays draw an audience of 500-600 on two nights. The Drama program is self-supporting through ticket and concession sales. A spring production was added in 2004, so that two plays occur each year.
The spring 2007 production of The Mousetrap marked the first time that a play was staged entirely by students, under the direction of AJ Knodel, a junior. Along with the eight cast members and additional crew, AJ took responsibility for casting, direction, set design and construction, and costuming. She repeated this feat in spring 2008 with an entirely student-led production of John Patrick's play The Curious Savage. Seniors Jacob Melder and Jared Goedhart directed Our Miss Brooks as the spring production for 2009. No spring production was held Spring 2010.
Fall 2010 marked another milestone - Schaeffer's first musical. With a cast of 49 students of all ages, the production involved all of Schaeffer Academy's musical personnel. Mrs. Myrna Holmes and Mrs. Mary Vogel directed, while Mrs. Karen Graham conducted the pit orchestra.
In the spring of 2011, we staged the ensemble drama 12 Angry Jurors, and in November, 2011, performed Dear and Glorious Physician, a play about St. Luke based on the novel of the same name by Taylor Caldwell. Both productions were directed by Mr. Jim Kluth.
Other productions followed The Ugly Duckling, each one adding more complexity and staging:
1996 The Man in the Bowler Hat
1997 Alice in Wonderland
1998 Arts and Parts
1999 Number the Stars
2000 Who Dunit and To Whom?
2001 Mystery at Shady Acres
2002 Divine Stella Devine
2003 A Midsummer Night's Midterm (Fall 2003)
The Time Machine (Spring 2004)
2004 Tenth anniversary production of The Ugly Duckling, along with If the Shoe Fits (Fall 2004)
An Ideal Husband (Spring 2005)
2005 The Mouse That Roared (Fall 2005)
The Comedy of Errors (Spring 2006)
2006 Anne of Avonlea (Fall 2006)
The Mousetrap (Spring 2007)
2007 The Miracle Worker (Fall 2007)
2008 The Curious Savage (Spring 2008)
Illinois Pete (Fall 2008)
2009 Our Miss Brooks (Spring 2009)
Little Women (Fall 2009)
2010 The Sound of Music (Fall 2010)
2011 12 Angry Jurors (Spring 2011)
Dear and Glorious Physician (Fall 2011)
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