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Teacher's stars are her big rewards

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published March 9, 2007

Awards are a funny thing.

Ask Middleton High teacher Maria Brent about the prestigious League Educator Apple Award she receives before tonight's performance of Wicked at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and she will say she is appreciative.

Ask her about the awards that come from opening the world of drama to enthusiastic students, and she will go on and on. She has one student, Tracy Baldwin, who is making remarkable progress as one of the few technical theater students at the University of West Florida.

Another student, Beatrice Lopez, will go from leading the Middleton troupe this year to attending the University of Tampa next fall.

"That, to me, is way bigger," Brent said. "That means more to me than anything else."

Brent is one of five teachers across the nation to be recognized by the League of American Theatres and Producers with the Apple Award. The league is keenly interested in theater education programs that are helping develop future theatergoers, and certainly Brent is doing that.

Through a collaboration with the Patel Conservatory, Brent created a special Wicked project for her students. One group developed monologues for characters from the Broadway smash, which is a prequel to the Wizard of Oz. Another group wrote sequels to the Wizard of Oz. The project proved successful. Some of the kids created their own costumes for the monologue, and each enjoyed the thrill of actually seeing the show.

"The thing about my kids is that many have never seen live theater outside of what we've done in school," said Brent, who explained that one of her students thought the show was over at the intermission. "It didn't strike me until then this student would have never gotten this opportunity otherwise."

* * *

Is it just me, or is someone else wondering what understudies actually do? Consider the understudies for Wicked. In my mind, they would hang out until 4 or 5 o'clock and then, when everyone appeared healthy, they would leave and go get hammered at the Hub.

Don't look for me to get hired as an understudy anytime soon.

I'm told they are contractually obligated to be in the theater even though they've seen the show 10,000 times. In fact, in an earlier Broadway touring production at the center, an understudy had to step in halfway through a show because the actor twisted his ankle.

* * *

So you probably knew that the Wicked cast has been in town for the last three weeks the tour concludes its Tampa stop on Sunday, but did you know cast members also have been out and about enjoying our fair city?

The actors have frequented various restaurants and watering holes, joined local gyms and a few have even attended spring training games. Of course, it's not surprising that they've made every effort to soak in the sun. Their last two stops were Providence and Baltimore. Talk about perfect timing.

That's all I'm saying.

Ernest Hooper can be reached at hooper@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3406.

[Last modified March 9, 2007, 06:11:24]