ENJOY THE SHOW!

CELEBRATING RISD’S OUTSTANDING HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE PROGRAMS

What better way to say goodbye to summer and hello to the new school year than by shining a spotlight on Richardson ISD’s topnotch high school theatre programs. You’ll find something for everyone in your family in the variety of shows these outstanding directors and their students plan to perform this year.

Pearce Theatre

Pearce Theatre has been entertaining audiences for fifty years. In fact, recently actors from the very first show done at Pearce came to the school and found the places they had signed their names under the stage so many years ago. During those early years, Pearce Theatre was run by the legendary director Lynn Zednick Shaw, commonly known to her students as “Zed.” She passed away in 2009, leaving the program in the capable hands of Director Heather Biddle.

Biddle, a class of ‘95 Pearce graduate, has always been active in theatre, dance and performing. That the stories they tell touch lives and help people have conversations that they might not otherwise have been brave enough to undertake is what makes Biddle so proud to be involved in theatre. She states, “We give a place to all students at Pearce. I also run our adaptive needs theatre program and we make sure that ‘All Means All’ when it comes to the art and beauty and joy of theatre.”

Biddle believes in “adopting” students who aren’t traditional theatre kids and providing them with a whole new world. Danezion Mills is one such student. He was, according to Biddle, a great kid with an uncertain future. She encouraged him to try theatre, which he did. However, challenges in his personal life threatened to derail his future. So Danezion was ‘adopted’ by the extended theatre family and its supporters in the community. He not only ended up attending Texas State and their top tier theatre program, earning a BFA in Theatre, but he is now living and working in Los Angeles as a professional actor.

Besides positively impacting individual students, Pearce Theatre is also a pilot

Our entire family loved being part of the theatre community at Pearce High School. Theatre provided two of my sons a place where they could challenge themselves, make mistakes, learn new skills, gain confidence, and develop lifelong friendships. The program and the directors made such a positive impact on them that they are both pursuing acting in college.

– Tiffany Hoodenpyle, Pearce Theatre mom

program, meaning that it gets firstrun shows from all the major licensing companies in New York, according to Biddle. Their most recent pilot was Mean Girls High School Version, which they took to the International Thespian Festival, otherwise known as “Nationals,” this spring. Still seven months away from the completion of its brand-new theatre, Biddle is having to be flexible and the season is still in flux. Biddle did share that the fall show will not only be a high school premiere, but in fact a regional premiere as they will perform it for the first time in the entire southern region. And in February, Pearce students will be performing in collaboration with the Richardson Theatre Collective for a children’s show, Finding Nemo Kids

Biddle is thankful to be able to continue to tell stories and be part of the community’s lives. She states, “Thanks for hanging in there with us as we travel from space to space waiting for our new theatre to open. Thanks to the incredible people at Richardson High School and the Theatre Collective for housing us so many times this past year. And to the Allen Performing Arts Center for opening their doors to us as well. Theatre is such a community and we are so blessed to be part of it.”

For more information about the Pearce Theatre program, visit http://pearcetheatre.org