The whimsical theme of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz musical filled the auditorium as production director Melissa Glasgow read through the show script. The Westview Theatre Company cast surrounded her, singing and acting out their respective parts.
This year, director Robert Townsend hired two professional guest directors to help run the musical: production director Glasgow and music director Van Angelo.
After a long career as a performer, Glasgow decided to work on a different side of production: directing.
“I was a professional performer for about 10 years,” Glasgow said. “After years of being a performer professionally, I now am at a phase in my career where I enjoy making the thing versus doing the thing. I just really love the whole process of being part of creating the world that the performers get to play in.”
Currently, Glasgow travels to different theater companies throughout southern California, such as Virgin Voyages, to assist in their productions. Once the original cast leaves, Glasgow finds new actors and teaches them the musical.
“I do a lot of associate work, which means when the show is created, I’m there beside the director, learning the show, helping set the show, helping make creative choices for the show,” Glasgow said. “Later, as that show takes on a new life, I will then set new casts to learn the show.
Stepping outside the bounds of the professional theater world, Glasgow decided to take on the role of a guest director for WVTC’s production. In recent years, drama teacher Robert Townend has been inviting different professionals in San Diego to direct certain school musicals or productions.
“My priority for the last few years has been to bring these amazing artists that San Diego has and [bring] them here for our students to get different perspectives,” Townsend said. “It’s all about finding new voices, finding new representation, and finding new techniques. And it’s really exciting and invigorating for the theater company to become revitalized with new approaches.”
In professional productions, actors receive direction from multiple directors. Townsend said this process better prepares students for their potential future careers as performers. With a variety of different techniques to choose from, students can now find one that works for them.
“In the real world, when they go out and do other shows, they’re going to get a bunch of different kinds of directors that all work [in] different ways,” Glasgow said. “It’s good practice just to work with different people too.”
Outside of WVTC, Townsend immerses himself in the local drama community through many theater companies like San Diego Musical Theater (SDMT) where he used to be Director of Education. Through his work in SDMT, he was able to meet Glasgow. She describes theater communities in cities as very tight-knit, allowing for numerous connections to be made between performers, directors, and other theater staff.
“Any city, the theater community is very interconnected,” Glasgow said. “I’ve worked for SDMT when he was the director of education there, so we know each other from there as well as a bunch of mutual connections all around.”
Being unfamiliar with WVTC’s cast, Glasgow approaches this new environment with enthusiasm and fervor.
“There were a couple [students] that I worked with in summer camps and other things in the past, but no one that I know really well,” Glasgow said. “It’s exciting to be the only one who doesn’t have a connection to these actors yet because Townsend and our choreographer Caitlin have both worked with many of them before. It’s really fun to have a fresh set of eyes and I’ll learn about everyone as we go too.”
Though Glasgow has only been at Westview for less than a month, she said she has familiarized herself with WVTC’s culture and community.
“This space feels professional but still fun and playful, which I think is hard to balance,” Glasgow said. “We want to ignite that love for theater and the joy we get from doing it. If things stay too serious or rigid, you lose that playfulness and you can see it on stage.”
Glasgow has worked with many professional actors but still enjoys working with younger, less experienced actors.
“One of the things that I’m passionate about as an educator is that I love bridging the gap from pre-professional to professional,” Glasgow said. “I love finding the people who have that ability to just find themselves in a role or come to life on stage. I love being able to help them find the ways to grow and the ways to be prepared to handle the professional world of performing.”
During her time with the cast, Glasgow has noticed the supportive nature of the Wizard cast.
“I noticed in callbacks the support that everyone has for each other,” Glasgow said. “After every group would be called out to read their acting side, everyone would be snapping, clapping, and high-fiving and that’s a really important thing in theater.”
With Glasgow taking on the directing responsibilities for the show, Townsend can now take a step back from busy production sessions and step into a life with his family.
“That decision came from me wanting to find a balance so I could spend more time with my son,” Townsend said. “He’s 9 now and I want to make sure I’m around for him a little more.”
Still, Townsend said he remains involved in the production, often swinging by rehearsals.
“They sound fantastic,” Townsend said. “I’m not completely separate from it all. The bits that I’m seeing are all looking really good. I’m excited about seeing where it’s going to go.”
According to Townsend, each musical is an experience of its own. Every production has its own unique cast, set of costumes, props, and sometimes even director.
“That’s the interesting thing about theater,” Townsend said. “No production is ever the same. It’s always something new and there’s always that unknown and that excitement about new creative designs.”
