With years of experience directing musical theater, creative arts teacher Kyle Reynolds hopes to bring new energy to the public speaking class and the fall play this year.
Mr. Reynolds said that he knows and believes that public speaking is very difficult for anyone, so one of his goals is for students to acknowledge the fun and opportunity that comes in public speaking.
Mr. Reynolds wants every student to be comfortable when making a speech in front of an audience. He said that by generating enthusiasm for the class, students can feel more comfortable when speaking in front of one another. “I take a theater approach whenever I can, and I think that the more the kids can focus on being engaging and being interactive with the audience, the better,” he said.
Mr. Reynolds is working on the fall play, “Rabbit Hole,” and his goal is to tell a story of a family who seems to have everything but, after a tragic event, faces many struggles. He said that this year 20 students auditioned, and all of the students that were selected will have a large influence on the play.
“For the musical, I think it is important to further the community, and the students have to work together as an ensemble,” he said.
Mr. Reynolds said that he came to KO because he saw the need to build a community of students who wanted to further their musical theater craft. “I’ve done musical theater my entire life, and during my interview, I saw a true hunger for musical theater,” he said. “I am so happy knowing I can feed that hunger and fulfill the young minds at KO with the musical theater knowledge I can offer.”
Mr. Reynolds is an award-winning director, and his students have gone on to theater careers, even on Broadway. He has worked in professional theater companies and gained acceptance to the top musical theater universities.
“I am hoping to make the theatre department of KO proud and inspire the young minds at KO,” he said.
