Director Smith
Denzel Smith is a man with a big dream of inspiring and changing his community. Denzel has been a familiar face at EC Central high school for eight years now; since August 2008. He started as a student, then went on to be a tutor, and now he’s the choir director! Since Denzel was a freshman in high school at EC Central, he knew directing was something he had always wanted to do. There is no doubt Denzel doesn’t want to do anything but inspire and try to make a difference with his work.
When asked about his aspirations, Denzel went on to say, “My main goal is to take my message of love and peace all over the world through theater.”
When asked about his biggest inspiration, Denzel mentioned not one, but three people. He said his biggest inspirations were his mother, father, and godfather. Denzel’s father, who passed away about a month ago, is a treasured person in his heart. Denzel is also doing the play in honor of his father.
Though Denzel is talented in both acting and writing, he very much prefers to write. He likes how he can express himself and create new things through his writing.
“I prefer to create. I have more fun acting, but writing is my heart,” Denzel confessed.
Denzel is very thankful and fortunate for receiving so much love and support from his community because of his work.
“I just want to thank EC Central for starting my career,” Denzel stated sincerely.
The Play
Beauty, Denzel’s newest project, is a play showcasing how humans view beauty. The play also teaches lessons of humility. The overall goal Denzel wanted to accomplish with the play was for everyone, both watching and participating in the play, to learn from it and love themselves. He also went on to say the play was “for the people.”
Denzel believes his play will have an impact on the actors and the audience. He believes, from the play, people will be able to feel the impact of the power of love and being humble. This ties into Denzel wanting to inspire and make a change through his work.
Along with the play showcasing beauty, it also tells a story of heartbreak. Denzel relates a lot to the play, as well. For example, the story features a director. The story of the play is also a classic story of being in love and being heartbroken. Denzel admitted to experiencing being in love and being heartbroken, as we all will. Though it may seem like something we can avoid, it’ll happen to us all. It’s the sad truth.
Denzel spoke about the many inspirations he had for the play.
“I had never written a love story and I really wanted to do something different, something new.”
The idea of love was one of the inspirations behind the play. However, the main inspiration was his students. Denzel felt by creating a play about something new, it could really showcase his students’ talents.
Coming up with something new can be challenging when you aren’t used to it. Choosing a plot for the play was difficult because he focused hard on coming up with something that made sense. This part took the longest, but he didn’t give up.
For the title, Denzel had no idea what to choose but, eventually, he wanted a name that would make people want to know what it was about. He wanted something mysterious and Beauty was the first thing that came to mind.
Student in the Spotlight
Denzel didn’t like that he had to choose one student to be in the spotlight, simply because he loves and appreciates all of his students deeply. However, there is one student he appreciates tremendously for her passion.
Taylor Kennedy, a EC Central senior, is the one to look for when it comes to the choir and theater. She’s been in choir since she was a freshman at EC Central. Surprisingly enough, Taylor says she felt out of her comfort zone during the play because she prefers to act and sing in small performances, rather than playing a major part.
In the play, Taylor played a character named Crystal Dupree. Crystal was an assistant to the main character. Adam Fitzgerald. Taylor stated that Crystal was funny, real, and had great outfit changes. Taylor felt Crystal was what kept the play going.
When asked about her inspiration Taylor, coincidentally, said Denzel.
“To see him striving and succeeding everyday, despite what he’s going through, gives me hope,” Taylor admitted.
“I can honestly say he helped me grow into the leader and woman I am today.”
Denzel stated he admired Taylor specifically because of her maturity and zealousness when it came to her performances. Along with being the president of choir, she also always shows characteristics of being a leader and is always ready to adjust to any situation.
“She reminds me a lot of myself,” Denzel stated sincerely.
What’s Coming Up
As the first semester comes to an end, EC Central students are bracing themselves for finals and midterms. After that, starting December 18th, winter break starts and will last for two weeks. Once school starts back up in January, everyone will then be preparing for turnabout. Turnabout is a dance where, instead of boys asking girls to go, the girls ask the boys. Lately, turnabout has been all anyone could talk about. The dance takes place January 16th, 2016 and so far, everyone at EC Central is prepared.