By Ava BreslinAfter being hired to be Wilson’s new drama teacher and Wilson Theater Company Director, people have been asking, who is Ms. Lennon? (Courtesy of the Wilson Theater Company Website) From when she was three years old, Ms. Lennon has loved theater. After seeing Hello Dolly, Lennon says that actress Carol Channing waved directly at her and ever since then she has been hooked. When asked what drew her to the theater, Lennon said her father and grandfather used to play records of old classic shows when she was young; she also said she had seen performances since she was a child as well.
“I am lucky my parents took me to the theater at a young age,” Lennon stated as the thing that also held a lot of influence in her eventual passion for performance. Growing up as a singer was also another influence for Ms. Lennon. She says that she would annoy her three older brothers “constantly” with her incessant singing. Lennon says that when she was in college, she got more into the acting side of theater as well, combining it with her love of music. After working for five years at a mutual fund company and then working in Human Resources Departments for different companies, Lennon finally made the switch to teaching the art she so passionately loved. “I would get so frustrated because students who didn’t like Shakespeare were being taught by teachers who didn’t like Shakespeare.” Ms. Lennon has been a teacher for almost 17 years in the Virginia and Maryland area. Before she was a full-time teacher, however, she would volunteer at theaters in the Philly area and would rush home after work through the intense rush hour traffic only to turn around to have to go back out to get to rehearsals. Finally, she quit her Human Resources job and became a drama teacher, wishing she “listened to my [her] mother when I was younger,” who had given her that advice, years prior. A technical aspect of theater that Lennon loves is sound design. “In the last five years, I have gotten ridiculously crazy with sound design.” When asked about why it is so important to her, she says, “It can really take you out or put you back into a moment in the show.” The background music, sound effects and on-stage sound moments are something that she puts tireless hours into figuring out the timing of to better the performance. When asked about her directing style, Ms. Lennon explained that she likes to do unconventional work. She described it, “I like to do things that aren’t like anyone else's.” She says that even though sometimes maybe other people don’t like it at first, being different was always a priority for her. As this isn’t her first position where she has worked with teenagers, she did bring up her love for their spirit. She says that she gets to see “the best of what teenagers can be.” From their enthusiasm, excitement when things go right, and their growth throughout production, the young adult spirit is one she enjoys working with. As a director, Ms. Lennon enjoys finding a “through-line” or message that isn’t too embedded in the text to highlight for the audience. Sometimes, she says, she doesn’t even share it with everyone she just applies that line to all of the other aspects of the show. The Wilson Theater Company’s shows are usually picked out a few months in advance, and in this case, they were picked out by a different director. Lennon says that that makes the process as “interesting yet difficult” to come up with her “through-line” or unifying theme of the piece to direct it. However, coming into a season with shows picked out already is something that she says makes it come from a “whole new place.” Meeting new students and building strong relationships is a huge goal of Ms. Lennon’s for this year. She states that getting to know “students, teachers and the rest of the school” is something that will take time but is something she is greatly looking forward to doing. Figuring out the Wilson audience and what they like and don’t like from shows is another aspect of the job Ms. Lennon looks forward to navigating.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Amelia FortunatoWilson Sophomore Featured StudentsVisit our Alumni ColumnGraduated Paw Print staff keep you updated about their college life here!
Archives
February 2020
Categories
All
|