After former choir director Daniel Moyer left Westview at the end of last school year, the arts department had to pivot. With the discontinuation of both the Chamber Choir and Concert Choir classes at Westview, drama teacher Robert Townsend met with the administration to figure out a new direction.
“We brainstormed and said, ‘How about creating a musical theatre class?’ because it ties into what’s already happening in the theatre, but it also can help students that want to sing ensemble or solo stuff to still be active in that art form as well,” Townsend said.
Townsend wants to keep some of the foundational skills from the past choir class, while also fusing them with skills more commonly associated with theatre. Students will still learn to read music as well as the basic tenets of stage direction, blocking, directorial ideas, character analysis, and script analysis.
According to Townsend, part of what sets musical theatre apart from the already existing drama class at Westview is the combination of singing, movement, dance, and acting, all at the same time.
“For musical theatre performers, they have to be able to embody the entire instrument, from their voice, to their body, to their emotional interaction with the audience,” Townsend said. “It’s a really immersive art.”
Despite having never taught a singing-focused class at a high school before, Townsend said he is excited about taking on this new teaching experience as it encompasses one of his greatest passions.
“Musical theatre is my bread and butter,” Townsend said. “It’s what I’ve done for the last 30 years as a professional actor, performer, and director. For me, it’s really cool to dig into something that I’m passionate about that is also a really unique American art form. The idea that we get to focus on just musical theatre as much as we want is really exciting.”
Many previous choir students have found their stride in Townsend’s musical theatre class, and Townsend is prioritizing listening to these long-standing choir students.
“I’m a firm believer in student voice,” Townsend said. “I’m working with [past choir students] to honor the contributions they’ve given to choir over years and making sure we don’t just say goodbye to choir completely because I don’t want to do that. I’m trying to find a way to embrace the world of choir and the world of musical theatre and find a cohesive whole.”
Past choir student Mako Takai (12) is now taking the musical theatre class and said she hopes to preserve what she loved most about the choir, despite its new format.
“It was a significant change that we had, so I feel like everyone, especially Mr. Townsend and the people who are used to the traditional choir, including me, are still trying to figure out how we will do this year,” Takai said. “I think we will have a big change both in our practice and performance, but I still want to keep parts from traditional choir because that’s what we love.”
Despite the changes in the program, Takai said that the combination of styles might make for even more engaging performances.
“I like to try new things, so I am excited to be in [the musical theatre] class this year,” Takai said. “I’m looking forward to adding a new style to our performance with more choreographies while keeping our traditional choir style.”
The quick transition between Moyer leaving Westview and the new school year proved to be a challenge for planning the musical theatre class, but Townsend is still looking forward to seeing how the class will grow and distinguish itself from choir moving forward.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare and discuss what the actual structure [of the class] would be,” Townsend said. “It’s going to be in development over the year, but I’m really excited; I think there’s a lot of potential.”
