Shrek, The Musical runs February 6-9 at South Kingstown High School. Learn more and purchase tickets at RebelTheaterGroup.com. For a behind-the-scenes look, visit @rebeltheatergroup on Instagram.
Ryan Muir is one of those educators who thinks outside of the box. For this month’s musical production of Shrek, The Musical by South Kingstown High School’s (SKHS) Rebel Theater Group, the accomplished and beloved music teacher and show’s director could have easily ordered a costume for the dragon, but instead tapped into a very Rhode Island resource: Big Nazo, the Providence-based improv troupe of giant masked puppet-like creatures (loosely translated to mean “big nose”) founded by Erminio Pinque in 1986. “Yes, we are building a dragon for the show,” says Pinque slyly.
“I could have rented a dragon prop from a theater supply company,” begins Muir, “but involving the students in creating something completely unique with a local group that we have right here in Rhode Island has just been a great experience.”
Along with Pinque, members of Big Nazo gathered for a collaborative workshop with SKHS students in early January to design the large dragon puppet that is sure to be a highlight and draw in this year’s production. “We’ll be guiding the students through the same process that design professionals use when starting a project,” explains Pinque. “Students will create their own version of the dragon character, and then we’ll look at these ideas all together, talk about what works and what we’d like to incorporate, and out of that process we’ll create the final design of the puppet that will appear on stage.”
The workshop is just one of the ways that Muir is connecting his students with experiences that develop their skills in the performing arts world. Muir teaches drama, theater, and choir at SKHS, and he also leads a tech theater class. “The students start with lighting and sound in the fall, and then they finish up the semester actually working on set and prop design for the musical,” explains Muir. “The students get to put their skills into practice by working on a real show.”
Collaboration with other arts organizations is another way Muir and the Rebel Theater Group bring professional experiences to SKHS students. “We work in the fall with the Community Theatre in Wakefield on an improv show called Testing, Testing 1234, and that has been just a fantastic partnership,” says Muir. “Working with Big Nazo has given the students the opportunity to engage with character design in an active way.”
Muir opened the workshops to interested students from the high school’s arts Career and Technical Education program, as well as the tech theater students and the cast of the musical. About 120 students participated in the first dragon-making
workshop in December.
“There are so many amazing artists and arts organizations in Rhode Island, so much talent and resources,” says Pinque. “Artists often try to do everything on their own, but there is so much that can come out of collaborations. Working with the students gives us a connection to the up-and-coming young artists who are just beginning to discover who they are, those ‘diamonds
in the rough.’”
Over 90 of those young artists are involved in this year’s musical production: dancers, singers, actors, tech crew, and musicians. “This is one of the largest shows we’ve ever done,” says Muir. The dragon isn’t the only thing that is big about this show.
“The theater program at SK has been a big positive influence on our daughter’s high school experience,” says Simone Butterworth, whose daughter Mirabelle will play the Mad Hatter in the show. Parents in the South Kingstown community actively support the Rebel Theater Group by helping to build and paint sets, feeding the cast and crew at long rehearsals, and selling tickets and refreshments during the shows.
Working with artistic professionals in the community can connect that path to a future in the arts. “When we come in and work with the students, they can see that here is a professional application, that you can make a life and a living through artistic work,” says Pinque. “It reaffirms why we are doing this work: to create friendships, create community, tell stories, make something beautiful and meaningful and joyful in the world.”
“Theater is a place where kids can explore who they are and who they are becoming,” says Muir. “The students gain so many skills that will support them in life, wherever their path takes them.”
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