History of Theatre at Faribault High School

The theatre program at Faribault High School has had a long tradition of outstanding theatrical productions. It all started with Mr. Michael J. Hanson, who was the FHS theatre director for thirty years until 1997. He began by staging plays in what is now the student center. There was a slightly raised cement stage on the end where all of the snack machines are located that served as the "main stage" for productions. Mr. Hanson was able to get a great number of students involved in his productions.

He was also able to expand the number of shows performed from two to four. Hanson would have a fall play, a spring musical and some years two musicals. the productions he worked on ranged from the classics to very modern pieces.

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 When Hanson had a theatre lab class, there would be an "Opus" production during the semester, so the students who were studying in the class could show what they had learned. Dance was an important part of any of his productions. Hanson was a dancer at heart and he instilled in his students the appreciation for line, form, and movement.

1985, when the new Middle School building was opened, there was also a 350-seat theatre where Hanson began to produce and stage the high school shows.
 

Mr. Hanson became ill in 1993 and although he did design a lot of the theatre spaces that are here today - beginning with crude drawings on napkins to lists of ideas to be incorporated - he was never able to see the final product.

He passed away in 1997. The theatre was completed in February 1998. In the years when he was too ill to direct, others stepped in to keep the program producing shows. Mary Wilfart directed a number of plays for FHS, while Kathy Rush directed the One Act Play competition pieces. Shortly before his death, two fellow instructors informed him that the theatre and rehearsal rooms were going to be named The Michael J. Hanson Performing Arts Center. He was moved.
   

 For the 1997-98 school year, Ms. Andrea Shaw was hired as the theatre director. She opened the performing arts center with a production of Guys and Dolls. In the fall of 1998,  Paul H. Johnson replaced Ms. Shaw as the theatre director and the Michael J. Hanson Performing Arts Center was formally dedicated on Sunday, October 25, 1998 with many current and former students and instructors in attendance. Former students reprised some roles they had had in high school as part of the dedication ceremony.

Over the past fourteen years, the theatre program has been expanded from two shows a year to four major productions on the main stage. A variety show was added to the main stage productions, which is produced by the students to raise money for the Michael J. Hanson Performing Arts Scholarship established in 2002. Four other opportunities for the students to participate have been added to the Black Box Theatre space throughout the school year; Open Mic Night, Mental Floss I and II, and The Theatre Production Class.

The academic classes offered to students during the school day are Theatre Arts - a general class covering history, production, and arts analysis and interpretation - and Theatre Production -  a class where students study theatrical imagination and read a series of dramatic works which culminate in the class creating  an original work and perform it in the Black Box.

The FHS theatre program established in 2001 a Summer Theatre Enrichment Program (S.T.E.P.) for elementary and middle school students which is run by current and former high school students as a week-long summer theatre camp which culminates in performances. S.T.E.P. was expanded in 2008 to run for two weeks and include two High School Plus workshops by professionals in theatre.

More is being planned in the future to cement the Performing Arts Center as part of the whole high school experience in Faribault.