Shorb gets Cedar Park students hooked on hitting the stage

Ready. Set. Action.

For nine years, John Shorb, Cedar Park Christian School drama-department head, has led hundreds of students to delight in the passion and art of acting. This year’s celebration of the school’s 100th one-act play proves the success and devotion of the students, and most of all — the leader.

Senior Lauren Loudon has participated in drama since her freshman year. “Shorb always pushes you and never lowers the standards under any situation. He appreciates you and lets you know that constantly,” she said.

Students at the Bothell school performed No. 100, “Letters of War,” among other one acts, Jan. 20-22 in-the-round on the commons stage.

Shorb was drawn to one acts, which are short plays directed by students and performed for students and faculty at the end of each semester, as a high-schooler.

“I remember watching one acts at my high school in Lacey. I remember getting out of class and how just seeing them was fun,” he said.

No. 100

Shorb selected “Letters of War” to be the 100th one act since, “It’s an original, written by our student, plus I believe it to be the most moving. The first time we performed it, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

“Letters of War” was originally written by Cedar Park student Justin Hylarides and performed in the spring of 2005. Senior Makenna Landes took on the important task of directing this play, in which a young man enlists in the Vietnam War and writes devotedly to his mother while in combat. But when a disaster occurs, he has to make a choice whether to take responsibility or save his own life.

Directors select students from their class periods to perform in their chosen one act. Landes immediately chose senior Caleb Parker, who has starred in numerous one acts before and played the lead in the latest fall show, “Godspell.”

Parker remarked on his director, “Makenna really took it up a notch. She made us feel appreciated, and I never had a doubt she was spending way more time than we were on the one act. She took pride in the show, and that was totally contagious. At the same time, she really had fun and wasn’t a control freak at all.”

Loudon was also cast in “Letters of War” and shared her thoughts on her experience.

“I definitely feel honored to be in the 100th one act, but a little scared because the expectation are so high; it puts the pressure on.”

Previous director Hylarides gave Shorb absolute control to change the play to his liking. “We didn’t have to update it; we just changed some side comments, nothing about the basic show changed,” Shorb said.

Landes worried in rehearsal, but found herself surprised during the performance.

“After the show, it was a good feeling. During the rehearsal, we had our difficulties and we kind of knew when we finally performed in front of an audience it would come together. When it was over, it really had just come together. It was the best I’ve ever seen them perform.”

Act One

Though Shorb never showed any interest in acting as a child, he found his calling by accident. He admitted, “I’m a victim of good friends.”

While attending Northwest College in Kirkland, Shorb became a part of a Seattle-based improvisation group called El Nino after the leader of the group asked him to join.

He graduated from college with a major in Biblical literature, and surprisingly nothing involving acting. Some friends and employees of Cedar Park notified Shorb shortly after graduation about a position opening as a Bible teacher at Cedar Park.

Jane Reinhart, the previous drama department head, left the school days before Shorb arrived to accept his position. Ironically, the school hired Shorb as the head of the drama department, as well as a Bible teacher.

The drama department welcomed Shorb with open arms. During his first year, he taught two drama classes consisting of 20 students each, but as the department became more widely known, the class size grew significantly.

Shorb recalled, “In the spring of 2005, I was teaching two classes, one consisting of 48 students, the other 41 students.”

The class size doubled within four years of Shorb’s entrance to the school. One in four high-school students at Cedar Park is involved in drama in some way. Shorb stated, “My focus is having fun and loving on each other; the drama is the icing on the cake.”

Each semester on a chosen Saturday, Shorb hosts a Character Building Workshop, where professionals come to watch the students perform a scene from their upcoming one act. They enhance the scene with their opinions and give highly appreciated pointers to the director and actors.

At the end of each semester, the drama department honors the students who worked exceedingly hard and rose above expectation with their Besties Awards.

Shorb added, “They’re like the Tony Awards.” Students vote for students in various categories such as Best Actress, Best Actor and Best of the Public.

Each time Shorb presents a show, he adds something new. “Our goal is to improve,” he said.

Last year, he took a risk and presented “Saint Joan,” one of his fall shows, on a built platform outside. The first couple of showings ran smoothly, but the Seattle rain proved threatening one night, so they reassembled the platform inside for one showing. This year, the students performed the school’s first musical number, and in January they performed the past favorite one acts as a dedication to this year’s 100th installment.

During his second year at Cedar Park, Shorb decided to add another way for students to be involved in acting, while bringing in revenue for the growing drama department. He developed a main-stage presentation performed in the fall and/or spring.

The first fall play, “Little Women,” took place in 2001. These shows depend significantly on the public financially, and Shorb said the spring play “is the tail that wags the dog.” So far, he has presented two fall performances and eight spring performances.

Standing ovation

With attendance rising at performances and students begging to add one more person to the already packed drama class, Shorb remarked on the constant growth of the drama department.

“The success isn’t due to me. I have great family and students around me, along with alumni, pastors, teachers and administration who give great support.”

With a wife of 10 years, their daughter Addison Rose, another child on the way and his current studies to achieve his masters of arts in theology, Shorb still finds time to devote his love and passion to every student at Cedar Park.

“Chemistry is way more important than talent. I want my kids to love Christ and love each other,” he said of his relationships with the students.

Shorb never dreamed he would be a teacher, but now he would not give it up for anything.

Next up is the spring play, and Shorb guarantees it will be a winner.

“Show up. The place is electric. You’ll see talent, but more importantly you’ll have a good time,” he said.