In his two-plus decades in theater, New Richmond Drama Club advisor Bill Harris, pictured left with New Richmond Class of 2022 graduates Kylie Cox and Cadance Dietsch, has seen hundreds of talented students deliver inspiring performances.
The group’s most recent effort, “Harvey,” was no exception, taking the challenge of a show with heavy dialogue and executing it to perfection both onstage and behind the scenes.
"They work," Harris said. "It's a pretty veteran group this time around. They know what to expect. They worked really hard. It's not an easy show, there's a lot of dialogue and monologues in there and they did well with that. We had a great stage crew, the transitions went really well. That's something that doesn't necessarily happen every time."
Roughly 20 students participated in the play this time around. Auditions were held for the play back in November and in the time since students have been hard at work preparing for opening night.
"We're after school every day for two hours, going through rehearsals, blocking and that sort of thing,” Harris said. “It all comes together. It never seems that it's going to, if you had asked everybody on Monday you would have got some rolling eyes and, 'I don't know' but it always comes together."
The ending of the play also marked the final performance of the New Richmond Drama Club under Harris, who had spent 21 of his 26 years in the district at the helm of the group.
"It's been a lot of fun," Harris said. "I coach as well and there are a lot of similarities. In theater, they kind of leave you alone. It's a different group of kids. They come in, they work hard. The talent set is a little different."
Harris began his path at Anderson High School but his first on-hand experience leading a group of performers came in Georgetown.
"I did this when I was in high school," Harris said. "When I first started teaching in Georgetown, they had a couple elementary teachers [doing it] and I told the principal, 'If they ever get tired doing that, I think I could do it better.'"
While working on his master’s degree at Northern Kentucky University, Harris took classes on directing high school theater and coaching actors.
"[The classes] were very helpful," Harris said. "Then like everything else, you get in and learn some stuff. You tweak some things and you get better as you go along. That's the hope, anyway."
Countless shows have stood out to Harris over the years: “Count Dracula,” “The Odd Couple,” and “All the King’s Women” are a handful of the shows that left a mark on Harris.
"I've told the kids that were in the show that 'And Then There Were None' is the best thing that stage has ever seen," Harris said. "It's Agatha Christie, it's her masterpiece, and we had such a good group of kids that were not only talented but dedicated. It was top-notch."
That performance is one of several with a spot on the brick wall outside the auditorium. Dozens of previous shows have been memorialized on that wall, though it’s not an up-to-date list.
"It's really neat," Harris said. "It's something we need to get caught back up on. Folks like it. When you come [here and] see that, it takes you back to all those shows. It's pretty cool."
A lot of those shows were chosen by Harris. He weighs several factors before making a final decision on which pieces are performed.
"I try to look at the talent that I have, look for things that match their strengths," Harris said. "[I] read plays and look through plays and say, 'I think we can do this.' [I] try to find something where everybody gets to do something fun."
In addition to his work with actors and actresses, Harris also coached athletes, at one point serving as the boys’ varsity soccer coach for the Lions. The talent of the students he’s worked with shined through regardless of the medium they were expressing it in.
"We've got kids who have come through here who are as good at what they do as any athlete we've ever had," Harris said. "They're just phenomenal. It's fun to see that."
Harris hopes the students he helped enjoyed the experience as much as he did.
"I hope they had as much fun as I did," Harris said. "Even when you're working on something that's really serious, there's a whole lot of fun to be had. They do work hard. The effort and the dedication, you're putting yourself out there and I hope they got something out of it. I know I did."
Auditions for the spring musical, “Mamma Mia!” began on Wednesday, February 8. Additional open auditions were scheduled for February 9 and 10.
More information can be found on the Drama Club’s Google Classroom which can be found using the code iqi2ilh.