Cape theatre director meets with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production company in London

Cape Henlopen High School Theatre Academy Director Martha  Pfeiffer was invited to attend a private meeting with members of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s company, The Really Useful Group, in London this summer. Last spring, Pfeiffer was the first public high school theatre director to produce Webber’s newest Broadway hit, “School of Rock: The Musical.”

Samantha McConnell, head of marketing and social media for The Really Useful Group, contacted Pfeiffer after seeing pictures posted on the CHHS Theatre Facebook page.

“I was absolutely ecstatic that Andrew Lloyd Webber was aware of our work…that he knew we existed!” said Pfeiffer. “His musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ was the catalyst to my love affair with the theatre. When I first heard it back in 1969, I knew that theatre had to be a part of my life!”

McConnell asked Pfeiffer if her cast members would be willing to fill out questionnaires that would be helpful for future high schools planning to perform the show.

This led to video recorded interviews with cast members, and Pfeiffer herself, discussing the process of creating a new production and how best to accomplish such a task.

The group was so impressed with the interviews and photographs from the production that they asked Pfeiffer to put together a small video that they could use for promotional purposes.

Kevin Brown, Cape theatre’s technical director, put the video together in two days. “They absolutely loved it!” says Pfeiffer. “Kevin did an amazing job, the video was so professional and polished. They loved the enthusiasm expressed by our students, and now they want to use our piece to serve as their promotional package. We are going international.”

Needless to say, Pfeiffer and her cast are elated.

These correspondences led to Pfeiffer being invited to meet with McConnell and David Robinson, head of stock productions for The Really Useful Group at their office in London. She immediately booked her ticket. “It was such a surreal and empowering moment. It truly reaffirmed everything that I have done - in regard to running the CHHS Theatre Academy,” says Pfeiffer.

“We not only discussed the production and what an absolute joy it was to create, but they were interested in my instructional process and what makes a high school theatre program successful. I cannot describe what it was like to be receiving accolades about our work, sitting in the office of one of the greatest musical theatre composers of my lifetime!”

McConnell says, “At the Really Useful Company, we’ve been blown away by the production of ‘School of Rock: The Musical’ put on by Martha Pfeiffer and her team at the Cape Henlopen High School Theatre Academy.

“The passion and talent of all involved in the production shines through, and we are so thrilled to see that it was a marvelous success. It’s wonderful to see places like Cape Henlopen High School Theatre Academy taking advantage of the release of ‘School of Rock: The Musical’ to schools and youth groups.”

The group was also very interested in the story of Cape Theatre student Tasha Hopkins, who performed the role of breakout soloist Tomika. In the play, Tomika is very shy and insecure about her abilities at the beginning of the story, but finds her voice and her self-esteem through the healing power of the theatre. Hopkins, having just moved to Cape from Germany, was also very shy and insecure when she first joined the theatre academy.

Pfeiffer says, “Once she became truly engaged in the production, Tasha found her stage voice - she found herself. It was so moving to watch both Tasha and her stage character, Tomika, going through the same journey. Both emerged as stars.”

McConnell says, “I have been telling others around the office about Tasha, and we absolutely love her story...how she’s the real-life Tomika! Now, the Really Useful Group will be contacting Tasha to do a feature story on her experiences with the show.”

“This has been such a magical experience, from the beginning to the end,” says Pfeiffer, “I never dreamed we would be involved in a professional working relationship with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s company. The future of the Cape Henlopen High School Theatre Academy looks brighter than ever.”