Today we’d like to introduce you to Irene Miller
Irene, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I did theatre all through high school and college and graduated with a BA in Communication and Theatre Arts. In 1983, I had a dream that I was in charge of a theatre company called Crystal Sea Drama Company. In the dream, we were rehearsing in a large brown room with lots of windows. I woke up knowing that I was supposed to start that company. However, I ended up having nine children instead, and my dream of having a drama company remained just that for almost 20 years. In 2001, a local homeschool co-op was looking for a drama teacher. Our youngest son was two, so my husband and I felt it was a good time for me to get back into theater. In May, 2002, we were rehearsing for our end of the year showcase. I looked around the room and suddenly realized that it was the same room from my dream in 1983. I told my best friend, Marla Ripps, who was the director of the co-op, and together we formed Crystal Sea Drama Company the next year. We stayed at that co-op through 2004, then moved to a church’s fine arts’ conservatory until we got too large for their space. In 2009, we rented an old archery warehouse. My husband, students, and parent volunteers renovated it into a black box theatre and classrooms, and we’ve been there ever since. We started with one general theatre class and one end of year showcase. We now offer acting and stage movement, technical theatre, makeup, costuming, sewing, improvisation, elementary art and theatre, scenic painting, and performance classes for K-12, and we put on four full productions a year. One of the programs that we’re very proud of is our tri-annual New Play Festival, where students write, direct, act, and tech new scripts. We’ve recently started a young adult group to allow our alumni to continue their theatre training, and we do an occasional show with adult actors and student techs.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We have definitely run into our share of struggles. Since we cater primarily to homeschooled students, we have a smaller pool to draw from than other youth theatres. That has brought about financial challenges. When we first moved to our current location, we had close to 100 students. However, that was the first year that gas rose to over $3.00, and many families experienced job loss. As a result, we had a huge drop in our student numbers, to the point that we weren’t sure how we would be able to continue to pay our rent. Some supporters stepped up with donations and loans to fill the gap until our student count rose again.
Covid was also a significant challenge. We had just completed one show when everything closed down, cancelling our remaining two productions of the season. We had negotiated with our landlord to pay partial rent until we opened again and were able to cover rent through June. We got to July with nothing left in our savings account. On July 3, someone let us know that they believed the work we were doing with students was important, so they donated enough money to pay our rent through December, when hopefully we would be able to have student tuition coming in again, which we did. Other supporters also sent donations, so we were able to pay all of our other bills, as well. We are grateful to everyone who has helped us continue to share with students over the years.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
For many years, I taught a Shakespeare class, which would compete at regional Renaissance Festivals. We won a number of medals in One Act, Duet Acting, and Monologue categories. I continue to share my Shakespeare passion at my studio and with other theatre students around town when teachers ask me to come give introductory Shakespeare lessons. I specialize in de-mystifying the Bard so students can enjoy his works and not be scared of reading and performing them.
One of the things I am known for is that my students are well-trained. When they go to other theatres or theatre programs, there are almost always comments about how professional my students are and how they know so much about theatre and performing. That was the way I was trained by my theatre teacher, and I love passing that on to my students.
I am also an actress and a singer, and I love to be a dresser helping out with quick changes backstage.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
From the Covid-19 crisis, I learned that if people believe in your mission, they will rally around you, and you can trust that things will work out. The outpouring of love during that time of hardship was huge and healing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.crystalseadrama.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrystalSeaDramaCompany
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CrystalSeaDramaCo
