“It’s been an amazing ride and while I know it’s not going to look exactly the same - and it shouldn’t - the show will go on,” Eldridge recently told Lakota Schools officials.
When Eldridge first stepped into the unfinished auditorium at the new Lakota West High School that summer of 1997, she wore a hard hat. The space was nothing but cement—no seating, no wood floor, and certainly none of the tools, costumes or props that now fill every crevice of the backstage area.
The two Lakota high schools would periodically combine student productions that have entertained and thrilled thousands of school families and resident theater lovers over the decades.
Hired away from the Princeton school system in nearby northern Hamilton County, Eldridge said she was just 24 years old and in her third year of teaching when found herself suddenly responsible for building a full-scale high school theater program, practically from scratch.
“I just came in and did the work,” recalled Eldridge as she looks back on her career at Butler County’s largest school district and the only one to have two high schools.
Eldridge told Lakota officials she remembers all the time she invested early on in adapting the curriculum for the two drama classes offered at the time.
Eldridge remembers West’s “Beauty and the Beast” selling a record-breaking 5,000 tickets across eight performances and “Little Women,” which showcased a powerhouse ensemble, four of whom are now professional performers.
In the beginning, she rewrote the curriculum to fit her own teaching style. Realizing the power and potential of her own professional network, she also called on her “theater friends” during those first few months and years – an approach that would ultimately define Lakota West’s theater program as it is known today.
“I needed a set builder, a choreographer, a tech director, all the things,” she said, emphasizing that ticket sales alone demanded additional help. In those days, tickets required in-person sales and all paper distribution. “I’m just one person and I quickly realized I can’t do this alone.”
Eldridge will soon leave a legacy as vibrantly bright as the student productions she helped produce along with counterpart at Lakota East.
The last three school years have seen her combine with Lakota East theater director Casey Johnson.
Johnson is quick to credit Eldridge for her mentorship and generosity since stepping into his role at East, saying: “Kim has been a great resource for me in how to build a program. She’s been really insightful and a great coach.”
Such a collaborative approach has helped launch countless students into artistic careers.
Beyond Broadway, Lakota alumni from both schools have become Disney performers, opera singers, stage managers at Second City, lighting designers leading global teams, film cinematographers, directors and choreographers.
Eldridge said she stays in touch with plenty more who are still chasing their dreams in the big cities.
At the same time, Eldridge told Lakota officials are equally proud of the students who have come across her stage and used their skills to prepare for jobs in law, education and the business world.
“I am helping you become storytellers,” Eldridge would tell her students. “It’s not always preparing them for Broadway. The confidence and skills they learn here will carry them forward no matter where you go next.”
Both schools are now preparing for their spring musicals for the public.
In April, Lakota West students will perform “Les Miserables” and Lakota East will stage “Alice by Heart.”
Information on show dates, times and tickets is available at Lakota West’s website and Lakota East’s website.
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