On April 3, the upper school theater class will perform their first rendition of “Clue”– but that wasn’t always the plan.
In January, upper school theater teacher Abby Nathan stopped teaching after the first week of the Winter Stock intensive. Nathan, who had taught at the school for two and a half years, is no longer employed by UPrep according to an interview with Human Resources Manager Dawn McGeorge. The Puma Press reached out to Nathan, but she declined to comment.
Nathan would have taught three classes during the second semester, but because of her leave, teachers like middle school theater teacher Michael Nevárez have stepped up. Nevárez is the new director of the upper school play.
“They needed somebody to fill that spot, and I was more than willing to do it because I love working with middle and upper school students in theater,” Nevárez said. “I love directing shows.”
Nevárez is still teaching all of his former classes, but he is confident that the extra responsibilities won’t be too much for him.
“I’ve been very thankful for my colleagues, who are willing to step up and fill that space and take leadership with covering those classes,” Assistant Director of Middle School and fine arts department chair Tim Blok said.
The Puma Press did not recieve a reason for Nathan’s departure, and McGeorge maintains that silence is essential to protect everybody involved.
“These things I’m not able to talk about,” McGeorge said. “They are confidential between the employee, former employee, and the officials here at UPrep.”
Sophomore Solomon Merati, who is playing Colonel Mustard, enrolled in the theater class before Nevárez took over.
“So right now, the current director teacher is Mr. Nevárez,” Merati said. “He’s experienced, and he seems like a pretty good teacher to me.”
After Nathan left UPrep, the theater department did not have a semester plan, and Nevárez had to choose the upper school spring play before the second semester began.
“It came down to how many actors I had. I had eight, and I knew without really having to search that “Clue” had eight principal roles,” Nevárez said. “But we’re trying to also create our own iteration of these characters, and infuse them with each actor’s strengths and a little bit of their personalities.”
The production of “Clue” is on schedule, and the Stagecraft class is working to construct the set.
“I think this is going to really take the labor of everybody involved,” Nevárez said. “And I’m really excited– I’m excited to see how everybody comes together to make it happen.”
Learn more about past upper school plays:
