Theater Students Find Rewards in Working with UPS for Downs Actors

Senior Grace Adler and junior Thomas Bollard are already veterans of Saint Viator’s theater productions. Still, for the last six months, they have volunteered as student directors with another theater group: UPS for Downs, or United Parental Support for Down syndrome.

This weekend, Grace and Thomas are working behind the scenes of Seussical Jr., taking place on the Joanne Calzaretta Stage at Saint Viator. The production features nearly 50 actors, aged 12 to 65, with and without Down syndrome. Another dozen Saint Viator students are working behind the scenes of the show, serving as ushers and selling concessions. 

Performances continue at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Find ticket information at: ufdSeussical.eventbrite.com.

As student directors, Grace and Thomas assisted actors through the six months of rehearsals, with staging, choreography, line memorization, and singing. 

“During the shows, I act as support on stage for the actors and help them to be their most authentic selves in the midst of storytelling,” Grace says. “My goal is to ensure that every person I work with feels supported and encouraged, not just as performers or collaborators, but as individuals with unique talents and perspectives.”

This is the second year that Thomas has been helping to direct the UPS for DownS actors, and once again, he is finding the experience rewarding.

 “I truly believe that the environment created by the actors at UPS for DownS is one of the most positive, uplifting, and supportive atmospheres I have ever experienced in the production of a show before,” he says. “Every rehearsal I find myself laughing right alongside the actors, and they never fail to bring a smile to my face.”

Ms. Megan Gray, chairman of the fine arts department and theater director, returned to direct the show for the second year, and she finds that performing on stage, as part of a cast, has just as many benefits for these special actors as it does for Saint Viator students.

“This is the most positive group of performers I have ever encountered – they are constantly encouraging one another and lifting each other up, onstage and off,” Gray says. “Although we do have a shiny, impressive production awaiting our audiences at the end of the week, for me, it’s all about the process."

“From auditions, to choreography, to learning the music, problem-solving quick changes, memorizing lines, and much more,” she adds, “there are so many skills that our actors have learned throughout the course of the year that can also benefit them in their day-to-day lives. It has been the joy of a lifetime to get to work with this incredible team.”