Jackson Theatre Archive

Venables approved

🎭⚠️ FUN FACTS BEFORE EVERYTHING GOES WRONG… ⚠️🎭

Opening Weekend is February 20th and trust us… you want to be there when the chaos begins.

Here’s what makes The Play That Goes Wrong such a comedy legend:

💥 It started in a tiny London theatre and became an international smash hit.
💥 The “disasters” are completely choreographed (yes… even the falling walls).
💥 It’s a play-within-a-play about a 1920s murder mystery that absolutely falls apart.
💥 Timing is EVERYTHING — one missed cue and the whole thing actually goes wrong.
💥 You don’t need theatre experience to love it. You just need a sense of humor.

And the best part? You get to watch it all unravel live.

📍 Location:
Jackson College Potter Center - The Baughman Theater

🎟️ Tickets are just $20
Buy online now:
👉 https://centerstagejackson.org/purchase-tickets/
Or grab them at the door

Opening night is February 20th — and this is one show where you absolutely WANT things to go wrong.

Tag your favorite chaos-loving friend and make a night of it. 🎭🔥

Non-stop laughs from beginning to disastrous end!

The show that can’t go right is not too far away from opening!
The Play That Goes Wrong is a laugh-out-loud disaster from start to finish—falling sets, missed cues, and actors desperately trying (and failing) to keep it together.

🎭 Feb 20, 21, 22 & Feb 27, 28, March 1
📍 Jackson College Potter Center – The Baughman Theater
🎟️ Tickets: $20
👉 https://centerstagejackson.org/purchase-tickets/ or can be purchased at the door.

Here’s Audrey’s process for the “Matilda” puppet sequences. Her channel is full of wonderfully creative projects, so you should consider subscribing!

I Made Puppets and a Short Film for a Musical! WHEW! This was such a huge project, I'm really happy to finally share it! I've actually made puppets for a different musical (it's why I started making puppe...

For the past few weeks I’ve been working on preliminary design for “The Little Prince”, the production intended for the Fall.

This early stage of the design process is always thrilling to me as concepts begin to take shape. Our 1929 stage is always a fun challenge when planning scenery: modifying stock pieces to fit a new design, balancing the excitement of building something new with the the struggle of space constraints.

The development stage of production is critical and filled with hours spent reading, thinking, sketching, drawing; sometimes even rendering tests on the ol’ Vectorworks. Most important of all: outlandish ideas start forming that inevitably complicate the build, the costumes, the props, the characters. And while those ideas complicate the process, they in turn enrich the overall vision of the piece.

We know it’s harder and takes more time to do the interesting thing, to strive for the unique; but I think that’s a part of what made our shows special, what made them memorable. We weren’t doing “high school theatre”, we were doing theatre! Following a time-honored code, we worked to ensure that our process was true to the craft and worthy of us all: the crew, the actors, the costumer, the musicians, our audience, our art, our community.

I am sorry to share that Jackson High School has decided to not renew my contract. I am saddened to not return to my home stage and the culture of theatre and theatre family we’ve been building. I loved working with the students. I loved that old House. This world is what I’ve known and done for most of my adult life.

I am proud of the body of work I produced these last 23 years, and I am honored to be a part of so many young creators’ journeys.

The nature of theatre is ephemeral; I shouldn’t have expected to stay rooted in one place for as long as I did.
I know I will continue to create what I love, but it’ll just have to be somewhere else.

If anyone here has learned anything from me, even accidentally, I hope you continue to take up our torch to always “make the theatre a stronger institution for your having labored there”.

I am proud to leave behind:
A healthy Theatre Account with a few thousand dollars in the black.
A “little shop of horrors” that created and built 102 shows.
No paper trail to duplicate any of the 79 shows I directed (Burn after use! No Repeats!)
A bare stage with 23 years worth of memories and one ghost light.

Thank you students, thank you parents, thank you patrons of the theatre, and thank you fellow theatre artists who never flinched when asked for help. You have all contributed to the work that has enriched me and our world these last two decades.

This Page will serve as a personal archive of my technical and artistic work. This page is not officially associated with Jackson High School, but is open to theatre fam, alumni, supporters, and friends.

Diego

One last chance to watch this amazing show!
3:00 curtain at the Jackson High School Auditorium. Just $5 at the door.