Theater members are standing in the Black Box in small, scattered groups talking, laughing, and occasionally doing a few dance moves. Among them, positioned by a table located on a stand slightly above the floor is director Andrew Sinclair. Taller than the rest of those gathered around him, he is clearly the center of attention.
Sinclair takes a student and demonstrates part of his story. He joins in with the laughter. A few minutes later, he gathers the rest of his students and makes an announcement, his voice booming over the large, black-on-black room.
“I feel very confident in where we are,” says Sinclair, walking to the practice set and making comments about the wooden stands.
After an entertaining dance warm up, Sinclair has the set moved around and begins rehearsal. The cast is preparing for “Freddie the Frog,” their annual show for kids, which opens today and runs through Saturday, Dec. 8.
BASED OFF THE BOOK
The play is based off a book by Sharon Burch, and Niles West is the first theater program to perform it.
What began as a suggestion a year ago has turned into a play that merges five of Burch’s books together, filled with transitions, music, and added characters. In order to create the script, Sinclair and Burch worked together for months. They began with improvising the scenes. Then, Burch would go back and write the script, send Sinclair the script to make edits, he would send it back, and the process continued this way.
“It was very collaborative in the process, and even now, as we got into rehearsal, she’s allowing us to work with things, change things,” Sinclair says.
As it is a children’s play, its target audience is ages three to nine, but Sinclair feels that those who are able to see the play from a structural point of view will appreciate its artistry.
The cast consists of various types of animals and is supposed to be interactive with its viewers. Burch’s books teach readers about music notes, tempo, and rhythm, and this play is no different. Each of the main characters represent a note– Freddie is F and Eli, an elephant, is E– and they live on Treble Clef Island. A treble clef is a symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes.
“BE COMMITTED TO A CHARACTER”
In the scene being rehearsed, 26 of the 27 characters are marching in cohesion around the imaginary stage chanting: “left, left, left, right, left.” After doing the scene two times, Sinclair stops his students.
“I don’t know who we are,” he says, pointing out his biggest concern, “some of you look like you’re going to be fired as ants.”
He then explains that he wants everyone to create an individual personality for their character, even though they are all ants.
“He wants everyone to be committed to a character so they feel important to the scene and don’t slack,” says senior Alex Wood while watching the scene.
The next run through is significantly different. Voices boom louder and more enthusiastically, and the movements are more precise.
Still, Sinclair points out are where improvement can be made.
“Sharon, I love your character even though your steps are completely off,” he says to sophomore Sharon Pasia, laughing.
He then continues to further point out minor details among the movement of the 26 actors.
The scene is repeated once again, and Sinclair watches tentatively, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
“I WAS VERY DRAMATIC AS A LITTLE KID”
After many years of directing and even more years of acting, Sinclair is used to this process. Being involved with theater his whole life, he has experienced every aspect of it.
Beginning at the age of four, Sinclair’s interest in theater began early, recalling practicing scenes in his room while other kids, he imagines, were playing with trucks.
“I was very dramatic as a little kid,” Sinclair said.
He acted in his small town’s community theater growing up–his first play being “The King and I” in third grade. In high school, he brought change to its theater program by pushing for two plays a year as opposed to an annual one. His senior year, Sinclair directed a play for which teachers performed.
Naturally, Sinclair’s next step was to pursue his interest in college, and he did. Sinclair has a double major in acting and theater education and minored in English for his undergraduate degree. Years later, he earned his graduate degree in directing.
“It was a lot of theater,” Sinclair jokes.
During his senior year of college, Sinclair was chosen as one of the twelve best college actors in the country by the American College Theater Festivals (ACTF).
“I got a really big head over that and thought ‘oh I’m going to be the most brilliant actor in the world!” says Sinclair.
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“THE BEST JOB”
Around the same time, Sinclair was student teaching at Highland Park, describing it as “one of the best semesters of [his] life,” during which he fell in love with teaching. The group of chosen student actors went to the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. to perform, but when Sinclair returned, something had changed. He had an epiphany–his focus had altered.
“That was the moment I decided I was going to be a teacher,” Sinclair says.
Five years later, after teaching at Homewood Flossmoor and Maine East for brief periods of time, Sinclair came to Niles West and has taken the position of theater director for the past five years. He also teaches Honors College Prep, Public Speaking, Theater Workshop, and Directing.
Although it seems Sinclair chose teaching over acting, he never left the world of theater. He still performs during the summer, directs professionally, and directs Niles West’s theater program. Every day, he does exactly what his studies taught him.
“I feel like I have the best job I could possibly ask for at this point,” Sinclair says.
As theater director, Sinclair oversees everything having to do with the theater program, which is not a simple task. Many may not know this, but theater students put in just as many hours into their work as athletes, often times even more. Niles West has a seven show season program–five main stage shows and two studio shows– which means that the program is often preparing for multiple shows at a time.
“We’re always doing something it seems,” Sinclair laughs,”that might be out motto.”
By “something” Sinclair does not refer to just rehearsing. What sets Niles West’s theater program from that of other schools’ is that students are a part of each process of production: actors have to log in a certain amount of hours creating sets in order to perform, and Sinclair has the students of his directing class produce plays for the “Director’s Studio” held every year. Not only are Sinclair’s students leaving from the best high school fine arts program in the country, but they are also leaving with an overwhelming amount of experience.
“TRULY INSPIRING”
Other than his extensive background in theater, what stand outs about Sinclair is his lively personality and his relationships with his students. He is constantly engaged in conversations both serious and light with students and is known for his peculiar laughter, which always seems to be present.
“Working with Andy is not only an honor, because he is extremely talented and knowledgeable in this field, but it’s a lot of fun,” says Julie Crossen, another member of the theater department, “he has an energy and a caring attitude about teaching that is infectious. He never talks down to kids.”
Through these close relationships, Sinclair has earned the respect of his students.
“He is just so enthusiastic about what he does that you can’t help but be the same way also when it comes to theater,” senior Drake Nickell says.
“Mr. Sinclair is a truly inspiring person because he is dedicated to his job and loves it,” says senior Emma Zivkovic, “rarely does he look at things in a negative way.”
With all the work to be done by the Niles West theater program, both students and teachers, this year, Sinclair has no time to look at things in a negative light. After all, rehearsals for other shows have already begun.
