New theater teacher Andrea Royse takes helm of AHS Theater program

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

Theatergoers looking for a fresh take on a timeless, literary adventure — with a whole lot of wit and whimsy to go along with it — should check out Ashland High School Theater’s spring musical production of “Little Women” opening this weekend with performances at 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, at Mountain Avenue Theatre, with an afternoon matinee at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 9.

The musical adaptation of Louis May Alcott’s novel, written by Allan Knee, takes the coming-of-age story of the March sisters, Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth, in 19th century Concord, Massachusetts, for a whimsical, musical spin. The show boasts a cast of about 20 students playing lead roles and 20 understudies. Many of them are freshmen, sophomores and juniors at AHS and are led by Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Education and Engagement Associate Tommy Statler. 

Ashland Middle School’s former theater teacher Andrea Royse took over the helm of theater at Ashland High School on Feb. 10, following the departure of former AHS Theater teacher Shaun Hennessy, who took a position in the Portland area earlier this year. 

“I actually inherited the show – it was already in production when I started,” Royse told Ashland.news in a phone interview on Wednesday, prior to rehearsal. 

With guest directors in place, Royse said, “I’ve just been kind of landing the plane, so to speak.”

Royse is doing so this time around as producer of the production, which she feels tied to personally for a number of reasons.

“Growing up as a woman, I feel like I have been each of the March sisters and now, I feel like I’m Marmee, now that I’m a mom,” she said, with a laugh. “It’s like I can relate to all of these experiences in some way.

“I think the love of the sisters and just how they depend on each other really gets at the roots of humanity,” she added, “and when I’m watching my cast members and my crew members working so hard on this production and they’re helping each other and supporting each other … I feel like they’ve really taken on that idea of, that’s our family.”

Those familiar with Alcott’s novel “Little Women,” which inspired the 1933, 1949, 1994 and 2019 films, might wonder what to expect from the performance. 

“The biggest difference is it’s a musical so there’s lots of songs, there’s dancing – It’s extremely whimsical,” Royse said. “I think breaking into song adds a little bit of breaking from reality, which is completely in character for Jo. I feel like she’s the kind of person who lives one foot in reality and the other foot … living fantastic life of all these imaginary characters she has in her head.”

Knee’s adaptation of “Little Women: The Musical” incorporates songs, sword fighting and choreography to tell the story of Clarissa (played by Lily Glosser) and Rodrigo (played by junior Finn Parr) in addition to casting students as hags and trolls. Watch out for a volcano, too.

Instead of seeing the character of Jo and her sisters act out her stories, as in film depictions, they’re acted out by actors, according to Royse.

“You see how her stories evolve over time,” Royse said.

She’s excited to work with the cast, some of whom are her former middle school students now performing as high school students.

“There’s a lot of freshmen and sophomores, (for) some of them, this is their first musical,” Royse said. “I think when they first started, they didn’t realize how much work it was going to take and how many long nights were going to be involved. I want them to feel that amazing feeling when they get in front of an audience; the audience laughs at their jokes and claps when they’re done singing. I really want them to feel that immersive experience.”

Theatergoers might recognize Royse from Ashland Middle School, where she spent the past six years running the middle school’s theater program and directing the following productions: “Newsies, jr,” “SpongeBob: The Musical – Youth edition,” “The Addams Family,” Young @ Part,” and “Starmites!”

Born in Grants Pass and raised in Pleasant Hill, Royse studied fashion design in London and is a graduate of Portland State University’s Theatre Program, with a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Marylhurst University.

Among the students cast in plays Royse directed while at AMS is junior Celia Lang, who plays the leading role of Jo March.

The play is Lang’s first leading role in a musical, but her seventh role overall, including performances as Abigail in “The Crucible,” Agnes in “She Kills Monsters,” and Benvolio in “Romeo & Juliet.” 

Royse remembers Lang’s performance as a sixth-grader in “The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza” at AMS.

“And I thought, ‘Wow, she has such presence, and she’s just so beautiful and has a great voice,’” Royse said.

“She was just willing to do anything theater in middle school and now she’s the star of the show in high school. I am so proud,” she added. 

Royse also shared about the importance of the storied role of Jo, first penned by Alcott.

“I think that the really important aspects of Jo are that she has big heart, but she’s also fearless in a way that was considered not typical of a woman at the time,” Royse said. “She’s wanting to break down boundaries, but really when it comes down to it, family is the most important thing to her.”

Jo (Lang) is joined in the cast by sisters, Meg (played by senior Jes Joranco), Amy (played by freshman Abby Stalp), and Beth (played by freshman Violet Keiser). Junior Anja Alexander is cast as Aunt March and sophomore Ethan Stachel as Theodore “Laurie” Laurence.

Each leading cast member, also called an overstudy, has an understudy who also learns the part, according to Royse. 

An understudy show is planned on Tuesday, March 11, to give an opportunity for students who serve as understudies to play a lead role. For instance, if a student is cast as Marmee in the regular show, she will play Mrs. Kirk during the understudy show and the student cast as an understudy for Marmee will play the leading role of Marmee in the understudy show.

“They put a lot of work into learning the lines, the choreography, the song … and all of those interactions so that they can fill in if something happens to the lead,” Royse said. ”But then because they put so much work into it, they deserve their own show.”

“This is a program where we want to have as many opportunities as possible for as many kids,” she said.

Royse to focus on diversifying students skills

Royse emphasized her focus coming to AHS Theatre will be getting students involved at every level of the program.

“My philosophy as a theater educator is that when kids are in a theater program, they should be getting their hands dirty in every single way,” Royse said. “I want kids to experience every aspect of theater that they are interested in.”

She shared hopes of, in the next couple years, building a program where students are running behind-the-scenes operations independently and building the sets.

“I want to get the kids directing, and doing all the production stuff,” she said. 

“I know they’re capable of it and they need someone to teach them and that’s my job.”

Royse and OSF are also working on a potential partnership in 2026 to have an OSF masterclass at the high school.

Reach Ashland.news staff reporter Holly Dillemuth by email at [email protected].