It’s October, and Halloween is in full swing in my Brooklyn neighborhood. The decorations are wonderfully theatrical, from a 1,100-pound pumpkin on a stoop to a townhouse inspired by The Odyssey, complete with skeletons aboard a ship and a fishing net full of inflatable pigs.
It’s also an exciting month for theatre, with a whopping 28 productions opening Off-Broadway. Last week, I saw School Pictures at the Cherry Lane Theatre, a delightful show written and performed by Milo Cramer, featuring musical vignettes of former students he tutored, including one bound for a competitive performing arts high school and another writing an essay on Othello.
It’s playful and humorous and moving. In one song, Cramer sings about wanting to make a lasting impact on an angry 16-year-old and be a “real teacher, like the teacher you remember, changes you for the better.” The woman seated next to me cried.
Below, educators share what they hope their students will remember about them years from now, as well as the lessons they still carry from their own teachers and mentors. Among them is Tyler Buswell of Northwest Academy in Portland, Oregon: “Years from now, I want my students to feel proud of the things we all made together; whether it was the physical art itself or just the memories that shaped the way they see and contribute to the world.”
Speaking of teachers making a lasting impact, the latest American Theatre Offscript podcast features playwright Kimberly Belflower, whose play John Proctor Is the Villain—which will be the most-produced play in the 2026-27 season—was developed as part of the Farm Theater’s College Collaboration project with students.
Happy Halloween to all, and best of luck to students and educators making their way through midterm season!
– Allison Considine
✏️ Around the Web ✏️
- Love this elementary drama teacher who dresses in creative Halloween costumes every day in October.
- New York Theatre Workshop has named the 2050 Artistic and Administrative Fellows.
- Check out the latest American Theatre The Subtext podcast featuring playwright and educator Winter Miller.
- The Gamm Theatre in Warwick, R.I., has selected three emerging artists of color for its Gamm Fellowship Program.
- Jay Gerlach has been named executive director of the Educational Theatre Association.
- Sad to hear the news that HB Studio, where I used to study under Austin Pendleton, is losing its longtime home.
- Read about Stephanie Jae Park’s (Hamilton and Six) journey to Broadway in Playbill’s “How Did I Get Here?” series.
- Check out this story about how a Missouri theatre commissioned a local high school English teacher to adapt Dracula to avoid licensing expenses.
- The arts education program Poetry Out Loud will return for the 2026-27 school year for high school students.
- After their Ohio high school production of She Kills Monsters was canceled, students raised funds to stage the play at a local theatre.
- This songwriter was moved by the high school choir who performed her song.
💫 On Social Media 💫
Theatre teachers and educators: Years from now, what do you hope your students remember about their time in your classroom and their experience with you as a teacher?
AT Readers Respond:
C Ryanne Domingues
That they don’t need permission from other people to create. They can (and should!) self-produce!… Also, I hope they remember the definition of objectives and tactics.
Jenny Lale
There is a place for everyone in theatre!
Mark Kowalski
That they were safe to explore their characters and themselves. That everyone who wanted to participate could find a place with us.
Marisol Soledad
That they do not need anyone else’s permission to create.
Allison Tuomala
“Listen to understand, don’t listen to respond.” —My dearly departed theatre mentor on life and learning your lines.
Jo Strom Lane
Who they are is enough. What they create has value. Share both with the world without excuse. Be the person they want to be in whatever they want to do. Live and love. And stay involved in theatre in some way: on stage, backstage, FOH, patron…
Austin Pendleton: Remember to Look Up
In light of the news of HB Studio’s closure, I’m revisiting this 2020 interview with my teacher Austin Pendleton and a lesson he shared that I’ll always remember.
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