Wakeland Theatre

We are happy to welcome the newest member of the Wolverine Theatre team, Mr Aaron Yowell.  He is very excited to meet the wonderful people of Wakeland Theatre and is ready to start a great year!  Below is just a little bit about him.

Mr. Yowell was born and raised in Colorado. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Northern Colorado. To start his teaching career, Mr. Yowell was a high school choir teacher for four years. In 2011, Mr. Yowell moved to Frisco, Texas to be closer to his family. Mr. Yowell taught all things Performing Arts at Leadership Prep School for six years before moving to Plano ISD last year. While at LPS, Mr. Yowell’s students won State Championships in OAP at both the Middle School and High School levels. In 2018, Mr. Yowell graduated with his Master of Arts in Theatre from Regent University. Last year in Plano, Mr. Yowell’s students took 1st place in the Plano ISD UIL OAP festival. This school year will be Mr. Yowell’s twelfth year of teaching. Mr. Yowell is married and has a beautiful baby girl. In his very fleeting spare time, Mr. Yowell is a member of the Repertory Company Theatre in Richardson. This spring/summer he was Reuben in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia, and will be Agatha Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical in July. Mr. Yowell is extremely excited to work with the staff and students and cannot wait to carry on the legacy of excellent theatre at Wakeland High School. 

After 12 amazing years as the Technical Director at Wakeland, I am leaving to pursue a new path. This past spring I applied at the University of Central Florida, specifically to their inaugural MFA program in Theatre – Themed Experiences, and was accepted. The decision to move forward with the program was not taken lightly, and there were many tears as I wrestled with the decision. However, those of you who know me well know that themed experiences (ie: theme park design), is something I am deeply passionate about. Truly, your creativity and spirit is what has given me the courage to take this leap.

While this is very exciting for me and my family, it is also very bittersweet. How am I supposed to say goodbye to all of you? I can’t even begin to tell you all how much you mean to me, and how much I will miss each of you. You are all amazing. It has been an honor being your technical director, and I look forward to seeing the amazing things that each of you accomplishes in the future. I hope we can all get together one more time before we leave so that I can see you again! Thank you for being exactly who you are.

Love you 3000.

– Mrs. Leffel

Join us for a Drama Club event each month of the summer!

• June 14th- Flag Day party @6pm

-Celebrate Flag Day by bringing a food item from your favorite country to Isa’s House!

-Bring a swimsuit and towel

• July 20th- Once Upon a Mattress watch party

-Come watch next years musical Once Upon a Mattress with us!

-Time and Location TBA

• August 17th-“Howdy” beginning of the year party

-Celebrate the start of the school year at Pinstack on August 17th from 5-7pm.

-The cost will be $20 per person which includes dinner, unlimited soda, and 2 hours of bowling and games!

For those interested in joining our Drama Club next year, get ready for a fun 2019-2020 year in theatre! The officers will be planning many fun activities, events, and workshops for ALL of the Wakeland Theatre Drama Club members.

To join our Drama Club Remind and get reminders of Drama Club activities, events, and workshops visit: wakelandtheatre.com/remind or text @andrewlens to 81010

There will be a few events over the summer so join our remind to get notified.

2019-2020 Drama Club Officers

Co-Presidents: Matt Reno and Leah Zalenski

Vice President: Andrew Lensmeyer

Secretary: Isa Campbell

Treasurer: Rebekah Mayes

Historian: Delaney Mann

Activities Manager: Piper Mackie

Social Media: Garrett Bohannan

It’s time to enter your points for this school year! Whether you are an active member, a joining member or a future potential member you need to enter this year’s points. You will not be able to enter past points in future years.

This year we have a new points tracking sheet that calculates your total so that I don’t have to (math and I aren’t friends). If you are a current Junior or Senior with a pre-existing points sheet you will continue to use your original points sheet, which should be in your Google Drive account. If you are a current Sophomore or Freshman, or a Junior or Senior without a current points sheet you will use the new form. I have created an example for you that can be viewed here: Student_Example_2018

Instructions for Filling Out your ITS Form:

• Go to this link and MAKE A COPY of the form. Save your new copy as your first name_last initial_grad year. Example: Casey_S_2019
  • If you already have a form, as stated above, follow the below steps to update your current form. Do NOT delete the verified line that was entered by Mrs. Leffel or Mrs. Howe for previous years.
• Fill in the top section with your name, address, email, etc. Leave Induction Year and the fields below that empty.
• Using the 2018-19 WHS Points for Performance Activities and the  Thespian Induction Points System enter your theatre activities and points to your best estimate.
  • Those with a prior sheet you may put the top line as “Points from original sheet” and then enter the total number of points from last year in the “Points Received” section
  • If you are unsure on the number of points you received for a specific action please see Mrs. Leffel or Mrs. Dalfonzo.
  • See Notes below regarding points for some activities
  • If you are struggling to understand the form itself please refer to this YouTube video tutorial.
• Share your completed form with both Mrs. Leffel AND Mrs. Dalfonzo at LeffelL@friscoisd.org and DalfonzJ@friscoisd.org
• All points will be verified by the directors. Some points values may change based on director discretion.

A Couple of Notes:

• If are currently inducted into ITS you can earn points for productions you have seen outside of school. Beginning this year you may earn a maximum of .25 points per full-length production. Remember that one point is the equivalent of 10 hours so you are getting 1 point for every four productions you see, assuming an average production length of 2.5 hours per show. Beginning next year a program will be required for all audience shows submitted.
• This sheet lists accurate points for WHS Theatre Performances this school year. Please use these points amounts. 2018-19 WHS Points for Performance Activities
• If you are submitting points for work done outside of Wakeland Theatre, such as performing in a production for an outside company, you need to provide documentation of your involvement in the show. A performance program will be sufficient.
• You get .5 points for each Saturday or Friday night (non-regular rehearsal time) shop call you attended for the entire time. Otherwise you get one point per 10 hours you were at shop calls total. If you do not sign in at shop calls then you do not get points.
• You do NOT get points for rehearsals
• You do NOT get points for any class performances – public performances for an actual audience only.

All Thespian Points must be entered by Monday, April 16th. No changes or additions will be permitted after that time unless an event arises that you are asked to participate in such as Academic Awards, Wespy’s, etc.

2018-19 Points Sheet

Click on the points sheet above to view the sheet to calculate your points for the year.

If you wish to be considered for a position as an International Thespian Society Officer for the 2019-2020 school year, please download the packet at the link below.  Pay very close attention to all of the instructions in the packet as there are several requirements to be taken care of well in advance of the deadline.

All completed applications are due to Mrs. Dalfonzo or Mrs. Leffel before the end of the day on May 3.

Please go to www.wakelandtheatre.com/itsofficerapplication to download your packet.

Hello, Dolly Shop Calls, Shows and Other Mandatory Dates

We will build after school daily for the remainder of the semester.

• Week of December 10^th
  • Monday-Thursday: 4:30-6:30
  • Friday, December 14^th: 5:30-9:30
  • Saturday, December 15^th: 9:00-3:00 (We will go later if necessary)
• Week of December 17^th
  • Monday-Thursday: 4:30-6:30
  • Friday, December 21^st: 5;30-9:30
  • Saturday, December 22^nd: 9:00-3:00 (We will go later if necessary).

PLEASE ARRIVE APPROPRIATELY DRESSED! It is not Mrs. Leffel or Mrs. Dalfonzo’s fault if you get paint on your clothes, nor is it their responsibility to provide you with paint clothes.

Proper Shop Attire:

• Close-toed/heel shoes with a non-slip sole
• Pants – Jeans are best. Leggings do not do much to protect your legs
• Shirt – Nothing super baggy
• Hair pulled up and back
• Jewelry removed

Important Information:

We are now in crunch time and will be working hard each and every day. There will be a lot of painting each day, and you will need to be neat and listen carefully to instructions. There may be points where you don’t have anything to do when we are transitioning assignments or are getting people started – bring your homework!

On Fridays, please use the time between the end of school and the start of shop call to go home and eat dinner.

On Saturdays, please bring your lunch with you or have it delivered. – it genuinely helps maximize time and is easier on everyone involved.

Important/Mandatory Dates:

Here are the remaining dates after the end of the semester – all dates are mandatory and were included on your production contract. If there is a conflict with a mandatory date you MUST speak with Mrs. Dalfonzo and Mrs. Leffel immediately. We understand some of you may be out of town on January 5^th, and you should have filled out a conflict form (found on the website) to inform us already.

• Saturday, January 5^th – 9:00-? (All Hands On Deck Tech Call for Entire Company) 1:00pm costume parade for cast members
• Sunday, January 6^th – 1:00PM-8:00PM (Dry Tech)
• Monday, January 7^th – 2:00PM-8:00PM (Full Tech)
• Tuesday, January 8^th – 4:30PM-10:00PM (Dress Rehearsal)
• Wednesday, January 9^th – 4:30PM-10:00PM (Final Dress Rehearsal)
• Thursday, January 10^th – OPENING NIGHT! 5:00 Call Time, Show at 7:00PM
• Friday, January 11^th – SHOW! 5:00 Call Time, Show at 7:00PM
• Saturday, January 12^th – SHOW! 5:00 Call Time, Show at 7:00PM
• Wednesday, January 16^th – PHOTO CALL – 4:30-8:00
• Thursday, January 17^th – PHOTO CALL – 4:30-8:00
• Saturday, January 19^th – DOUBLE SHOWS
  • 12:00 Call, 2:00 Show
  • 5:00 Call, 7:00 Show
• Sunday, January 20^th – 12:30 Call, 2:00 Show with Strike afterwards. EVERYONE MUST STAY FOR STRIKE. We should wrap up around 8:30PM.

Our Booster Club sent out a form to order and purchase meals for select rehearsal and performance nights. Please have your parents check their email and respond to the booster club. If you choose not to order a meal it is your responsibility to bring your dinner with you – you will not be permitted to leave school to go get dinner. You can direct access the link at wakelandtheatre.com/showmeals