Jasper Winterton
Feature/Video Editor
“(Parker Collier, junior) does all the things that other theater kids do as well … but he’s a very unique writer. He kind of writes at a level that I don’t see quite a lot,” Todd Schaefer, theater teacher, said.
Collier is looking to pursue his education in New York City, where he plans to major in acting at Long Island University.
Collier has been involved in the theater department since his sophomore year, where he has played an important role in the department, from playing lead roles to writing his own play, “Hunting Season,” which was performed in the Frick Theater in 2024 on Sept. 26-28.
“I’ve been acting for 10 years. I started on stage, and then I slowly started doing some film work. I did film work in New York, and I also did some film work here, and it’s just steadily grown from one medium to the other. So now I have both on my plate,” Collier said.
Schaefer said Collier “had worked on the (‘Hunting Season’) script with the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) … So when I finally did get my hands on it and read it, it had already gone through several rewrites and workshops and that kind of stuff. I read it and green lighted it the minute I finished reading it. I was like, we have to produce this, because just from the page, it was very, very well conceived.”
“I think (‘Hunting Season’) definitely got me into the good schools for sure. I’m on the wait list for NYU right now, and I got into Chapman University- which they only let 14 people into their acting program, I also got into Long Island University. It definitely opened up some doors for me,” Collier said.
The Chapman University website states that “With a cohort size of about 14 students, admission to Chapman’s Screen Acting program is very competitive.”
“We wanted interviewers to come, but it never ended up happening, but it didn’t matter because it’s actually getting a different run at the St Louis Fringe Festival with some adults,” Collier said about “Hunting Season.”
The STL Fringe festival’s website states, “St. Lou Fringe is a six-day event that involves a couple of thousand people at multiple venues throughout Grand Center & beyond.” The website also says, “Fringe features an array of original material—meant to celebrate all of the arts.” The festival will take place on Aug. 11-17.
Schaefer said, “Parker is kind of one of those students that has his hands in a bunch of different things all at once. So his biggest contribution, I think, is being an example or a role model for the playwright. It’s kind of a big part of our department that we produce original work. If we’re not producing original work, obviously, we’re not gonna ever get new plays in the world, right? So we always have to have someone who’s putting those scripts forward, and Parker’s a very, very good writer.”
Collier added money is an important factor in picking a school in his field, which Schaefer agreed with, as he said, “Anyone going into any creative arts wants to leave college without too much debt, so I always just encourage the kids to, you know, go for your school of choice if you can. But really, it should come down to the money. If you’re going to be an artist, you want to leave college with no debt.”
“The department’s gonna miss him. He’s been a really cool asset in our room for the last three years, and it’s been a joy to have him in the room. He’s just a very cool, creative energy,” Schaefer said.
|
|
Jasper Winterton-Feature EditorThis will be Jasper Winterton’s first year on ECHO staff. He made several contributions while taking journalism class his freshman year. |
Support Our Sponsors
