Theatre teachers participating in a workshop during “Setting the Standard” with UAB’s Department of Theatre.Sometimes, a brief conversation can make a big difference.
For Department of Theatre Chair Kelly Allison, a quick chat with Jamie Stephenson, chapter director for the Alabama Educational Theatre Association (aka “Alabama Thespians”), sparked an invitation that will likely benefit hundreds of middle and high school students for years to come.
Both Allison and Stephenson were attending the Alabama Theatre Teacher/Administrator Conference in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, two years ago. The annual conference—sponsored by the Alabama Thespians—aims to provide meaningful professional development opportunities to theatre teachers and administrators across the state of Alabama. Allison was facilitating a session about stage management, and he was impressed by the overall conference experience. After his workshop, he pulled Stephenson aside.
“I said, ‘Do you do this here every year?’ And she said, ‘Well, we move it around… occasionally we go to colleges.’” Given Allison’s commitment to community engagement and supporting middle and high school theatre teachers, his wheels started turning. “I said, ‘Well, have you considered coming to UAB?’”
They continued the conversation for a couple months after the conference and, eventually, finalized their plans to bring the 2024 conference to UAB. Allison shared the opportunity with his faculty and staff members, and they instantly bought in. So much so that they agreed to develop and facilitate unique sessions with the attendees.
“We were able to put together a pretty attractive collection of theatre workshops related to performance, technology, and safety—the full range of what we do here,” said Allison.
But it’s not just about professional development, according to Allison.
“We want to be a resource … we’re in this together,” said Allison. “High school and middle school theatre programs are a refuge for a lot of students. [They] are a place where kids find a home. We want to support that as much as we can.”
And that’s just what they did. Earlier this month, 50 teachers from across the state attended the 2024 Alabama Theatre Teacher/Administrator Conference (titled “Setting the Standard”) on UAB’s campus for two days, and, according to Stephenson, it was a phenomenal experience.
“Kelly, Mel [Christian], and Laura [Merrill] as well as the incredible faculty, have been wonderful to work with during the planning and production of the conference,” said Stephenson. “Our teachers loved learning from theatre professionals on the UAB campus. They helped us have a seamless conference and it was a great experience to work with them.”
Overall, the conference was a major success for both the Alabama Thespians and the UAB Department of Theatre, and Allison hopes to maintain strong relationships with all of the teachers moving forward (they plan to come back for another workshop in the near future). In addition, he and his team have committed to hosting more teachers and students on campus through two upcoming events.
First up, the Department of Theatre will host “Techstravaganza” on October 4, 2024. The event will offer design and technology workshops to middle and high school theatre students and teachers. In addition, in December 2025, the department hopes to host the Walter Trumbauer High School Theatre Festival, an event that’s been running for over 80 years and reaches thousands of high school students. Allison sees Trumbauer as a significant opportunity to elevate his department, because the attendees will get a chance to visit campus—perhaps for the first time—and interact with current UAB theatre majors.
“When we get to doing Trumbauer next fall, it’s [our] students intermingling with the high school students on campus, I think, that is probably going to have as big an impact as anything else on students who are looking for colleges,” said Allison. “They believe those students ... students tell you the truth.”
Given the long-term impact of Allison’s brief conversation with Stephenson two years ago, it seems there is real potential for more transformative interactions to unfold at these upcoming events. The College of Arts and Sciences would like to thank the Alabama Educational Theatre Association for bringing their conference to campus, as well as the Department of Theatre for producing such a valuable experience for the attendees.
