Episode 47 - Work Hard and Don't Be a Jerk with Amber Harrington

Welcome to the blog & show notes for Episode 47 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. In this episode, I interview my favorite drama teacher, Amber Harrington, from Edison High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’m your SallyPAL podcast host, Sally Adams. I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com.

I have an update on the SallyPAL empire. SallyPAL now has a STORE! You can buy t-shirts, totes and coffee mugs with vintage theatre photos and paintings. Each one has a caption or speech bubble that will make you chuckle (especially if you’ve ever been backstage). Click the link to go to SallyPAL.com/shop and see for yourself.

In addition to building the store, I’ve been toying with a YouTube channel. But I could use some advice. So far I’ve used it for live TOWN Stages interviews, encouragement videos and my own original music and covers. But I’d like to know what you want to see.

My son, my music partner and I are working on a new musical. Would you like to see the process and what that actually looks like? Do you want me to share videos of original performances from around the world? Do you want more video interviews? I have to admit, I’ve got a steep learning curve on this one. Just click this link to go to YouTube for the SallyPAL channel. Subscribe and comment on the channel and I can start sharing useful stuff!

Before I tell you about one amazing drama teacher, I want to share about a little project at our Virginia cottage. Because I am constantly struggling to get better sound, George and I created a recording studio in an under-stair closet. Here’s a pic of my closet under the stairs Harry Potter space. You might even be inspired to try something like this in your own home. It required that we both give up items of clothing we know longer wear to free up the space, but that’s a good thing, right?

Amber Harrington was never my drama teacher. She’s quite a bit younger than I am. But she taught all three of my kids. And as her peer, I’ve watched her work and been so impressed. Amber lives by her mantra, Work Hard and Don’t Be a Jerk. She’s been teaching theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma for nearly 20 years. This very special artist has received numerous awards for her teaching. And her students regularly win awards for their performances and technical work. Every year she expands the theatre program that has changed so many lives including the lives of my three kids.

Amber Harrington teaches nearly 250 students each year. This sometimes requires her to accommodate two classes at once. This would be tough enough for most teachers, but Amber’s organizational skills, work ethic (and Google Classroom) make it work. She learned what it means to be a drama teacher from her dad, Paul Harrington. He taught her about raising money, building sets and marketing the work of young local artists on a teacher’s small salary.

Amber Harrington graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University with a theatre degree after learning every facet of theatre craft. As a teacher she created projects and performances that helped her students grow. And every year the Edison Eagle theatre program gets a little bigger.

There are so many opportunities in Amber's department. Early in the school year there is a district-wide one-act competition that has often led her students to compete at the state level. The annual Halloween show, Creeps, has dance, music, spoken word and original writing. Fall Funnies features comedy scenes and monologues. She produces mainstage plays and musicals with the help of other interested teachers including history teacher Chris Burnham and now retired Folger Shakespeare Library Mentor Teacher, Paul Stevenson.

When the teacher walk-out forced students to forego one of the annual productions, Amber created a summer Comedy Camp to make up for the lost stage time. During the school year she produces an audition-only stand-up comedy show that includes some very funny student-written routines. Edison Eagle Theatre also produces an annual Saturday Night Live knock-off called Thursday Night Live (or TNL). I’ve often thought the kids’ original skits were funnier than the actual SNL.

As a Folger Shakespeare Library Teaching Artist herself, Amber makes Shakespeare accessible to the kids. Just recently, one of her students won the Shakespeare competition that leads to a National event in New York City. Her schoolwide Shakespeare festival has produced other National contenders over the years. And Amber and her students began a new tradition in 2017 featuring monologues written by students that focus on the lives of dogs called Dogologues. The December show raises money for The Promised Land Dachsund Sanctuary.     

So many young artists have trod the boards under Amber’s watchful eye including my three kids. I give her credit for instilling a sense of confidence and encouraging integrity. Amber now has her 10-year-old son joining the fun by teaching him to operate the light board and including him in the summer comedy camp.

One nice thing about teaching is having time in the summer to spend with your kids. One tough thing about teaching is being able to afford your kids. The Oklahoma Teacher Walkout last year in the national news was not unexpected. For those of us who have taught in Oklahoma public schools, politics loom large.

Amber is committed to supporting the kids by keeping politics out of all theatre department activities. She finds ways to create a positive environment where all students feel welcome. Amber commits every day to the Drama Class as a safe space. She keeps it that way even in the face of difficult circumstances for teachers. She believes in taking the art seriously without taking yourself too seriously.

All Eagle Theatre kids are required to do some performance-related writing. She created one of the first full-fledged playwriting programs in a high school in Oklahoma. Amber believes in students creating original work to a deadline. As she points out, “theatre is the hardest deadline.” All of these programs should be enough for any teacher, but Amber goes the extra mile. She takes the existing Edison deaf education program and incorporates ASL signing by having interpreters for performances and encouraging deaf students to participate in shows. And her program produced the only two Oklahoma winners of the Kennedy Center Very Special Arts youth playwriting program.

In my interview with Amber Harrington you’ll hear us talk about the amazing voice coach Rena Cook and the play The Hairy Falsetto by J.I. Rodale. We mention The Lesbian Exhibit by Eagle Theatre grad Will Inman. We also talk about presentational acting vs. teaching kids how to access feelings in a role. This is a process Amber refers to as “turning a corner”. The political climate in education came up, of course. And we discussed the juiciness of “the long silence” in performance.

There’s so much to talk about with Amber: We mentioned artist Tom Self’s original t-shirt designs for Creeps (they’re collector’s items now). Amber’s dad writes large cast plays that are often performed on the Eagle Theatre mainstage. The number of events she produces led to the development of a black box theatre space. Her casts have won all state one-act competitions. And Edison actors are regularly selected for regional and state all-star and tech awards.

This very committed teacher makes theatre classes challenging, exciting and fun. According to her students, the experience is worth every critique, long rehearsal, and ugly cry. Performing on stage is a risky business but with the encouragement of a teacher like Ms. Harrington, students take artistic risks with confidence. I know you’ll enjoy episode 47 with high school drama teacher Amber Harrington. You can click on the play button in this blog to hear the entire episode. But if you want to skip around, look below for a podcast rundown. After the interview you’ll hear Concise Advice from the Interview. This is a quick compilation of the advice given by my guest during the show. Words of Wisdom from George follows and is a bit of good advice from my husband, the coolest guy on the planet.

Here’s the blog version of Concise Advice from the Interview: There are only 2 bits of advice from Drama Goddess Amber Harrington this week:

#2 Work Hard.

#1 Don’t be a jerk.

Advice to live by.

Thank you for following, sharing, subscribing, reviewing, joining, & thank you for listening. If you’re downloading and listening on your drive to work, or rocking the artist’s podcast-listening lifestyle like my sister does, let me know you’re out there. Shared storytelling is the most important thing we do as a culture. That’s why I encourage you to share your stories because you’re the only one with your particular point of view. And SallyPAL is here with resources, encouragement, and now t-shirts and totes!

All the stories ever expressed once lived only in someone’s imagination. Now… Work Hard and Don’t be a jerk!