One of the main goals for our Theatre Education Community is to help theatre students and professionals from all over connect and identify with each other in order to build resources and support the theatre education field. We shine a spotlight on a different member every other week by conducting a simple interview.
Our next spotlight is Natalie Dommer, a Thespian Alum turned theatre director at Ottumwa High School in Ottumwa, Iowa, home to Thespian Troupe 615. Natalie is a regular at our events (say hello if you see her in Nebraska later this month!) and was recently inducted into the Iowa Thespians Hall of Fame.
Why do you believe theatre education is important?
Theatre teaches us so much! I don't care what age you are, there are core values and skills that are learned through theatre. Any time we step into a world other than ours, we are challenged and pushed to new heights. We learn how others think, how they problem solve, and as actors we have to "become" them. As an educator, we can learn so much about people, cultures, history, etc. through the process of putting on a play. We learn how to work as a team and how to not let down that team in the process. I believe that every single theatre student can tell you how they connected and bonded during the production of a play.
At the Kiwanis Awards banquet with my top Senior Honor Thespians.
What was the first play you ever saw?
I went to a school where former Executive EDTA Director, Michael Pietz, was the high school theatre director. The high school did not have a stage and so the plays were put on in one of the elementary schools of our community. Each year, the upper elementary students were invited to see a dress rehearsal of the fall musical. The first plays I remember seeing were Guys and Dolls (which I ironically had to choreograph a number for in graduate school) and South Pacific. Theatre was in my blood from an early age and I was always pretending to act out the lead roles in my living room!
What playwright would you like to have lunch with and why?
I am fortunate to have met and conversed with some various playwrights over my career, but one that I would still like to meet is Christopher Durang. I have loved reading his scripts over the years and love the edginess that they portray. I enjoy giving his scripts to my students to read and exposing them to ideas that are not the norm.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
This was my 25th year of directing high school theatre and this past fall, I was inducted into the Iowa Thespian Hall of Fame. It is such an amazing feeling and a truly humbling recognition. I am so proud to be a part of a group that has the members in it that I myself admired over the years and worked to follow in their footsteps. I am proud to be a Thespian as well as a Thespian troupe director.
Iowa High School Musical Theatre Awards
Tell us something that is on your bucket list.
I always tell my students that one thing I have left to achieve is directing a professional show in Chicago. I loved the time I spent in Chicago attending graduate school and would love to go back and direct a play. Many of my former students are working professionally in the theatre world in Chicago and I couldn't be happier for their success! I have acted and worked behind the scenes in some professional productions but I still have yet to direct one.
Do you have any tips for new theatre teachers?
Have high expectations for your theatre students, no matter what position they are working, whether it be on or off the stage. It will help prepare them for any future career they have and for so many experiences they have yet to come. Teach them it's okay to not get a part and that sometimes this can lead to strong success behind the scenes. Select shows that challenge your students and fit different styles of actors. It won't hurt someone that has had a lead for years to take an ensemble role or bit part. They will take those bit roles to the top and force their audience to remember them. Finally, you will become their second parent. You know how they work, you know their faults, and you know how to pick them up after a bad day. These are the days of high school that will influence them the most. Embrace it, love it, and then send them out of the nest to fly on their own!
Death By Design Cast
If you enjoyed Natalie’s interview as much as we did, add her as a contact in the Community.
Do you know someone who deserves a moment in the Spotlight? Tell me their name and why at gbutsch@schooltheatre.org. Want to read more Community Spotlights? You can find them here.