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We’re knee deep in the rehearsal process for SPRING AWAKENING right now, and we couldn’t be more excited to see the Oklahoma premiere come to life! One of the major issues in this show is the relationship between teenagers and adults. I can distinctly remember how many times I felt my parents or teachers “just didn’t get it”. We asked our staff about what their experiences were like. Here is what they said:

 

Were you close with the adults in your life at the time? Did you feel distant or disconnected with adults?

Matthew Sipress, Company Manager: I was close to both sets of grandparents and saw them often (I had great-grandparents into my early 20s). 

Robert Matson, Academy Administrator: Yes, mostly with my Art and English teacher. I never felt disconnected, I connected more with adults than my own peers.

Stephen Hilton, Director of Education: I was close with many adults because I was in theatre. I wasn’t as close to my parents as I wish now I had been, but I didn’t think of adults as “the enemy” or somehow an opposition to what I wanted.

Cristen Shepherd, Public Relations Manager: I was the “goodie two shoes” and always the good student in high school so I always treated adults with respect.  I feel like I grew up really fast in the fact that I spent a lot of time with older adults.  I remember being in WEST SIDE STORY at Jewel Box Theatre back in the summer of 1999, when I was only 15-years-old.  I played one of the adult roles like all of the college students and 20-somethings in the show.  It was the time of my life. 

Ben Williams, Ticket Operations Manager: I was closer to my teachers than with mom and dad.  There was a different “connection”. I never felt disconnected from adults.

Paula Stover, Executive Director: Disconnected with adults for sure – do they ever understand teenagers? HA

 

Who did you admire or aspire to be?

Robert Matson, Academy Administrator: I wanted to be like Carol Burnett. She made me laugh and forget about everything else in the world.

Cristen Shepherd, Public Relations Manager:: I know this is very cliché to say, but the person I looked up to the most was my big sister, Cianne.  She was also a “goodie two shoes” so I know that is where I got it.  But everything she did with her life I would always strive to be. 

Ben Williams, Ticket Operations Manager:A computer IT geek..guess not, huh?

Paula Stover, Executive Director: I wanted to be a journalist and I admired all the women who were just breaking into the field at that time.

 

What about you? Were you close with the adults in your life, or have some amazing role models? Tell us about it- comment on this post, or talk to us through Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to hear from you!