When I was young, I remember attending GDS High School a cappella performances and admiring the performers with glee. I could not wait until I got to high school to audition. In my freshman year, I joined Notified, GDS’ non-male a cappella group. I loved being a part of such a supportive and fun community. Unfortunately, in the fall, Notified had to stop rehearsing because there were not enough people willing to participate.
The performing arts department used to be the crown jewel of GDS. The theater productions were sold-out events, and auditions for a cappella groups were fiercely competitive. However, in the past few years, the attitude towards the performing arts has started to shift.
“The high school arts department was renowned within the DC area,” said 9th Grade Dean Julie Stein ’99. “I remember hearing about the shows and performers and feeling proud of how much they were student-designed and -led. It was a really competitive process, from what I remember, so a lot of people auditioned and not everybody got parts. When I got a part my freshman year, it felt like my life had peaked.”
The notable alumni of the GDS arts program showcase its ability to cultivate talent that can be seen in the actors, directors and playwrights who have achieved success on Broadway and beyond after participating in GDS theater. Among them are Tony-nominated actress Judy Kuhn ’76, known for her role in Les Miserables on Broadway; Ethan Slater ’10, star of SpongeBob SquarePants: the Broadway Musical and the movie adaptation of Wicked; Director Leigh Silverman ’92, who earned two Tony nominations for best Direction of a Musical for the musicals Violet and Snuffs; and playwright Gina Gionfriddo ’89, a two-time finalist of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
For this year’s fall play, The Crucible, only 12 students auditioned. According to junior Caitlyn Quint, who acted in The Crucible, this attendance is a sharp decline from the 20 students they remember auditioning for the play during their freshman and sophomore years. This year’s turnout was underwhelming. Quint said part of the reason the performing arts department chose The Crucible was because it had a large cast, and they did not expect such a low number of students to audition.
Sophia Ades, the head of GDS’ co-ed a cappella group, Eat at Joe’s, has noticed a decline in interest in the arts as well. “When I was a freshman, the arts were taken a lot more seriously,” she said. “I think that there definitely could be a bigger focus on the arts department and more excitement around it.”
I suspect that the lower participation in the performing arts is due to a lack of exposure. “The performing arts department is not promoted well compared to sports, so there’s less awareness of the department’s work,” said Quint.
I spoke with ten students across all four grades, and eight of them said students discuss sports more than the arts, and they are more likely to attend a sporting event than an arts event. This lack of promotion creates a cycle. When fewer people know about arts’ events, fewer people participate and the programs become even harder to sustain.
As high school theater director Janos Szasz pointed out in an interview, part of the solution is breaking down the false choice between arts and athletics. “We need to find a harmony between sports and the arts,” Szasz said. “Students should not have to choose between sports and arts, and it would be great if they could do both.”
Though students must choose between playing a sport and acting in a given season, many participate in both in one year because GDS has a fall play and a spring musical. “I played volleyball in the fall and I danced in the winter, but I absolutely adored being in the musicals,” Stein said. However, both activities are time consuming, so choosing to do athletics and the performing arts sometimes means the student has to make sacrifices and lower their level of commitment to one or the other.
I’ve heard students talk about how they do not feel “good enough” to try out for a play or join the choir. Others think it is “not their thing,” and I’ve been there. I know it can feel scary to take that first step, but performing arts teach you so much more than how to sing or act. Participating in the arts has shaped the person I am today by teaching me to think outside of the box, take risks and embrace my vulnerability onstage.
Students, I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone; community members, I encourage you to attend as many performances as possible; faculty, I encourage you to promote the arts department the same way you promote sports. We need to celebrate the arts as an integral part of what makes GDS unique.
If we let the arts fade away, we lose more than programs—we lose a part of what defines us as a community. Let’s work together to ensure that the arts continue to inspire and uplift future generations of GDS students.