Auditions for High School Musical Jr. Monday, Nov. 30
Into the Woods
Follow in the footsteps of prominent Kickapoo alumni who work on stage, in television and cinema.
KICKAPOO THEATRE!
KICKAPOO ALUMNI WHO WORK ON STAGE, IN TELEVISION, AND CINEMA
Brad Pitt, Jay Kenneth Johnson, Brad Southwick, Jeffrey Mallian, Lucas Grabeel,
Adrienne Wilkinson, Jeremy Mhire, Sterling Macer, Kim Crosby, & Brent Huff.
TRADITION
The Kickapoo Theater Program holds itself to a high standard of performance excellence and recognizes the theater as a disciplined art form. Kickapoo has a tradition of excellent productions, and we have been fortunate to have some great students at Kickapoo; some have gone on to perform, direct, and produce professionally: Brad Pitt, Kim Crosby, Sterling Macer, Jay Johnson, Jeremy Mhire, Lucas Grabeel, Brent Huff, Brad Southwick, Jeffrey Mallian, Adrienne Wilkinson... The list continues to grow. Our hope is that everyone that has an interest in theater will explore the possibilities offered at Kickapoo.
Click here to see the 2009-10 Season.
Click here to see the Kickapoo Theatre Hall of Fame members.
Click here to see the Kickapoo Theatre Scholarship recipients.
Click here to see the 2009 Award Recipients.
Click here to see what former Kickapoo Alumni are doing.
MUSICALS
Auditions for the musical are held in September and are open to any student at Kickapoo. Auditions consist of a vocal number of the student’s choice. Auditions will be closed for the singing portion; this means, only the directors and the student will be present during the singing audition. Following the singing portion of the audition, a student is required to work with the choreographer and about 10 other students on the technical aspects of dance. Students don’t have to have any previous dance experience. If students make callbacks, they are asked to have a prepared one-minute monologue. Rehearsals are intense and last approximately 6 weeks culminating with the production in mid November. Kickapoo has a tradition of putting on full-scale Broadway productions including in recent years: Man of La Mancha, Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, Grease, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Robber Bridegroom, Footloose, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, and Anything Goes.
Click here to see pictures from past productions.
Click here to see current season information.
PLAYS
The annual play is produced in May. Auditions are only open to the students in the Theater Arts II-IV Acting classes. Additional performances including one-act plays, and readers theater are cast through the acting classes. Recent productions include: Ring Round the Moon, Cocktails With Mimi, You Can’t It With You, The Clumsy Custard Horror Show, My Cousin Lino, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, Honeymoon At Graveside Manor, Forest Gump, Night, Amadeus, Sixth Sense, The Marriage Proposal, Million Dollar Baby, Let’s Hang Him and Read the Will, Antigone, Medea, The Princess Bride, The Night is Far Spent, Renfield of the Flies and Spiders, and Pageant Perfect.
Click here to see pictures from past productions.
Click here to see current season information.
THEATER COURSES
Theater Arts I (9-12th Grade)
This course is an introductory study of theater that is open to all students in 9-12th grade. Students studyvoice and diction, improvisation, Pantomime, acting, structure of drama, evaluation of drama, theater history, play production, stage scenery, stage lighting, costuming, make-up, and performance studies. Students that successfully complete the introductory course to Theater Arts have the chance to further explore other opportunities in the theater program at Kickapoo.
Theater Arts I Syllabus
Click here to see the district curriculum for Theater Arts I.
Theater Arts II-IV Technical (10-12th Grade)
This courseis offered during the fall semester only, for students in 10-12th grade that have successfully completed Theater Arts I. The students in this course serve as the production staff for the fall musical with an emphasis placed on learning and developing the skills in directing, scene design, set construction, light design, sound design, makeup design, costuming, publicity, and management.May be repeated.
Technical Theater Syllabus
Theater Arts II-IV Acting (10-12th Grade)
This courseis an advanced acting course, offered in the spring semester only for students in 10-12th grade that have successfully completed Theater Arts I. Students in this course participate in the areas of acting, interpretation, directing, and production. Students in the Theater Arts Acting course are the actual participants of spring productions including; one-acts, readers theater, the SPS Drama Festival, State Districts, and the full-length spring production. May be repeated and taken for dual-credit through Missouri State University.
Advanced Theater Acting Advanced Theater Acting Dual-Credit
Click here to see the district curriculum for the advanced Theater Arts Courses.
Click here to go to our Advanced Theatre Acting Page.
KICKAPOO THEATRE BOOSTER CLUB
The Kickapoo High School Theatre Booster Club is organized exclusively for the purpose of supporting the theater and drama program of Kickapoo High School, Springfield, Missouri through motivational activities, fundraising events and through such other nonprofit activities as its members may determine appropriate.
While several of Kickapoo's alumni have gone on to notable stage and film careers, all of our students benefit from the positive lessons and experiences gained on the KHS stage. We are completely funded by community support. If you would like to purchase an ad for this year's programs, we have several options for you. If you would like to show your support in an exceptional way, we are offering Underwriter sponsorships.
Click here to download a booster club membership form
Click here to download the theater scholarship paperwork
Click here for an advertisement form
Click here to download the booster club by-laws
CAPPIES
The Kickapoo theater program has been a full participant in National Cappies since 2003. The Cappies are sponsored by the Capitol Steps, the William T. Grant Foundation, The Washington Post, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. A school must meet a minimum of performance standards and criteria to be a member of Cappies. Through participation in the program students are trained and attend each others’ school productions. The top reviews of every show are published in area newspapers, including The Springfield News-Leader. High schools that are members of Cappies get high-profile publicity for their plays and musicals. Throughout the course of the year, Cappies’ theater programs are celebrated for their excellence. At the end of the school year, Critics vote for “Cappie” awards, and nominations are announced. The Cappies year ends with the Cappies Gala, a formal celebration of student entertainment, songs and sketches from nominated shows, and “Cappie” awards, presented by local V.I.P. Cappie winners are invited to perform at the Kennedy Center at the end of every year. Kickapoo has had nominees in every category and numerous Kickapoo students have won Cappie awards.
Click here to visit the international Cappies' website.
Click here to see 2009 Award Recipients.
There are 37 “Cappie” award categories, of which the following 33 are determined by critics’ voting:
Sound, Lighting, Sets, Costumes, Make-Up, Props & Effects, Stage Crew, Orchestra,
Choreography, Creativity, Ensemble in a Play, Ensemble in a Musical, Cameo Actress
Cameo Actor, Female Dancer, Male Dancer, Female Vocalist, Male Vocalist
Comic Actress in a Play, Comic Actor in a Play, Comic Actress in a Musical
Comic Actor in a Musical, Featured Actress in a Play, Featured Actor in a Play
Featured Actress in a Musical, Featured Actor in a Musical
Lead Actress in a Play, Lead Actor in a Play
Lead Actress in a Musical, Lead Actor in a Musical
Song, Play, and Musical
INTERNATIONAL THESPIANS
Kickapoo theater is an active troupe member of The International Thespian Society. The International Thespian Society is an honorary organization for high-school theatre students located at more than 3,600 affiliated secondary schools across America, Canada, and abroad. The mission of ITS is to honor student excellence in the theatre arts. It is a division of the Educational Theatre Association.Thespian membership is granted for the demonstration of a commitment to excellence in theatre arts that meets EdTA’s general guidelines. Specifically, students become members by earning points for their work. Thespian membership is conferred when qualifications have been met.
Current Kickapoo ITS members: Stevie Bales, Adam Barksdale, Rebecca Claborn, Kelsey Denney, Amanda Golden, Shelby Johnson, Kassie Wright
Click here to visit the International Thespians' website.
DRAMA CLUB
Kickapoo theater sponsors a drama club open to any student at Kickapoo who has an interest in theater. The Thespian officers serve as the leaders of drama club. The purpose of drama club is to allow more students the opportunity to explore various theater activities outside of the classroom. The club is entirely driven by its student leadership.
Click here to visit the Kickapoo Drama Club page.
Michael Butcher – Mr. Butcher is a Kickapoo Theatre Alum and a 1986 graduate. Michael has been teaching theatre for 18 years. He has been the theatre director at Kickapoo since 1999 and directed over 40 stage performances at Kickapoo. In that time, Kickapoo’s theatre program has grown into an award winning and nationally recognized program through Cappies and the Kennedy Performing Arts Center. Many of his former students are working professionally on stage, in film, in television, and in the classroom. He earned his undergraduate degree from Missouri State University and his graduate degree from Drury University. For the past fifteen summers, he has taught classes for Drury University’s pre-college program for the gifted. Courses that he has instructed include: Hitchcock film study, acting, improvisation, oral interpretation, Shakespeare, comedy, creative writing, and script writing.
John Mello -Mr. Mello is an alumni of Missouri State University, earning a degree in Theatre Education. While there he worked on various university productions and was the head-writer of the sketch comedy group The Jabberwocky Guild. He has also been in various improv groups such as MSU’s Improv Impaired, UMR’s Perfect Ten Improv, The Skinny Improv, and The Improvadors. For the last two years he was a substitute teacher for Springfield Public Schools.
CHOREOGRAPHER
Jaclyn Kohler - Ms. Kohler is herself a Kickapoo Theatre Alum. Jaclyn is an accomplished dancer. After having graced the stage for all four years of her high school career, she now joins us as our director of choreography.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Kickapoo High School
3710 S. Jefferson
Springfield, MO 65810
mbutcher@spsmail.org
417-523-8500
Fax: 417-523-8595