15. 8/10-From an Anonymous Former Student

I was identified as a student with a lot of potential and was constantly being urged into taking more classes and giving more money to the studio. At first, it was really flattering and gave me a lot of confidence. After a while, it no longer felt like it was because the Artistic Director had my best interests at heart. An incident that stands out is when I was privately offered a scholarship to a summer camp. He really wanted me to come and be more involved. I explained that not only was it still not feasible based on my parents’ work schedule and me not having a car, I had already been cast in shows at a competing theater that summer - some of which I was going to get paid for. He instantly changed his tone and started berating me for choosing that company over him and implied that it was a waste of time. He had ties to this company due to his personal life and past experience and was taking that out on me, a child, instead of being proud of me for getting cast in a show and actively performing throughout the summer. In his mind, the only performing worth doing was with Stage Right and he took performing anywhere else - especially at this particular theater or at your high school - as a personal attack instead of encouraging students to continue performing.