In previous years our theatre program has enjoyed success. However, new theatre teacher Kristen Rendina hopes to bring the program to new heights and create added excitement for theatre.

Rendina has been in education for 11 years. She has taught at many different schools over the years, but our school is the school she has always hoped to join.

“It was kinda always my goal when I moved to North Carolina in 2011. I first taught at Wake Forest Middle School, so moving up to the high school level has always been my end goal,” Rendina said.

Rendina believes that in theatre many lessons are learned, and that it is important to tell stories.

“I love theatre because it teaches so many life skills, and art is created in order to express what’s going on in the world at the time, and so it’s kind of like a team effort, just like if you’re on a sports team,” Rendina said. “It definitely takes everybody, and everybody has to do their job in order for the end product to be successful, and I love that it’s created to represent what’s going on in the world and especially in specific times and when it was written.”

Rendina also loves the many different avenues of theatre.

“I love theatre because in its purest art form, it encompasses all the arts in it. We have dance, we have acting, we have, you know, music and musicals in the pit, we have artists that do lighting and sound and all the tech stuff behind the scenes, and we have painters. So, I love theatre because it encompasses all the different fine arts,” Rendina said.

Most who love theatre dream to visit Broadway. Rendina has been and says it was a great experience.

“I went after I got married in 2011, so it was special,” Rendina said. “But the first show I saw was “Billy Elliot,” which is a dancing show and almost the entire cast is kids. So it was cool seeing 9,10 and 11 year olds perform ballet, and to do that as a career at that age is so powerful. It was really cool.”

When asked what Rendina’s favorite play is, she was quick to respond with the currently extremely popular show “Hamilton”.

“Right now I am obsessed with “Hamilton.” It has definitely changed musical theatre in general. It’s really cool because older generations that don’t ever listen to rap music are going to “Hamilton,” and they love it,” Rendina said. “They are being exposed to that kind of music and just the creative genius about what they did with that show is just awesome. So right now that’s my favorite, but if you ask me next week it will be something different.”

While the previous theatre teacher accomplished much with the program, Rendina says she wants to expand the program and her main goal is to win.

“You know Mrs. Jones, who was here, really had built this program for a really long time, and I just want to level up to the next level. We have so much talent at this school, and I really want to showcase that and touch the community in different ways.”