When Chris Evans heard there was a job opening in Great Falls, at CMR no less, he jumped at the chance to come back to his stomping ground. The 1983 CMR grad is the new drama teacher, taking over for the retired Stacey Bergquist.
“A very popular teacher retired, this slot opened up, and they picked me,” Evans said of his new job position.
Evans said he very excited about the school year. He’s most excited about the talent level of the students currently in drama.
“To see the talent level that is here right now, that Mr. Bergquist cultivated, it’s like being handed a Christmas present three months early.”
Evans wants to try some new things this year, and introduce students to things they’ve never done before.
“I cannot be Stacey Bergquist. He’s a friend of mine, and it would do him a disservice to be a carbon copy of him,” Evans said.
Evans’ mantra is, “My way is not THE way to act. My way is A way to act.” This phrase is his phrase to live by in his teaching.
This year, the Advanced Drama students will be doing “Monologue Fridays,” where they must recite a memorized monologue to the class. Evans will also “steer [the class] more towards performance [during class].”
Evans’ background consists of a teaching style of “how to build a decent actor from the ground up.”
“Our job as teachers is to give students tools to work with,” he said.
His teaching style and beliefs will be influential in many areas of the drama department this year.
One aspect of this change is the fact that all drama students will have to audition for the plays.
“I believe that part of the education in learning is by doing,” Evans said. “I’m going to let them know that things are going to be different.”
Evans’ personal goal is “to do my job and to do it well. I love this stuff! [I’m going to] let [the students] know that this is their place,” he said.
The drama department will be performing a musical in the spring, a pretty heavy drama in the winter, and the Complete Works of Shakespeare – Abridged in November.
“The play is normally done with three men;” however, Evans is going to switch up the script to allow for more characters.
These selections are “all in pencil” currently, but the Complete Works of Shakespeare – Abridged is a guarantee.
Evans said he’s looking forward to the shows, and they are “Not your daddy’s high school shows.”