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Boardman High School student to attend prestigious drama school
BOARDMAN
Most students in Boardman High School’s Show Choir are upperclassmen.
That’s why choir Director Linda Smrek was taken aback when Robb Lewis, then a freshman student, came up to her during the second week of school and asked about joining.
She soon realized that Lewis was serious: by the start of his sophomore year, he was in.
Soon, he’ll be heading off to pursue an even loftier ambition: becoming one of the country’s few dramaturgy students. Dramaturgy, the theory and practice of dramatic composition, is a niche study that draws just a few dozen undergraduate students in the U.S. each year. It’s also a highly competitive field, with thousands of students vying for the few spots in schools that offer dramaturgy as a major.
Lewis is one of six students enrolled in Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama’s prestigious dramaturgy program for the the fall 2017 semester. The school of drama has an incoming class of only 60 students, which represents about 5 percent of applicants.
Lewis’ mentors aren’t surprised by this feat.
“Of all the students I’ve dealt with, I’ve never met someone so attuned to the real world of theater. Everyone has high dreams, but Robb is a rare individual,” said Nick Opritza, BHS performing arts supervisor and drama director.
Lewis, 18, son of Laura and Robert, has always had a love for performing arts.
“It started with music. I’ve been singing for, like, ever,” he said, recalling his days as a choir singer at St. Charles School.
In high school, he first joined show choir, then got involved with the drama program.
“It kind of just clicked,” Lewis said.
“Everything can be portrayed in theater,” he said of why he loves it. “There are political aspects. There are psychological aspects. Everything can be put on stage.”
He’s performed in numerous shows, from starring as Edgar Allan Poe in the “Nevermore” musical to playing a more light-hearted role in “Man of La Mancha.”
“He can play a comedic sidekick. He played the lead role in ‘Carousel.’ ‘Nevermore’ is as dark as they get,” Opritza said. “He’s learned the ability of doing everything on the stage.”
Lewis also is as involved a student as possible. He’s led the show choir, drama club, soccer team, and Italian National Honor Society. He also works at a restaurant several nights a week.
“Luckily, I don’t get too stressed,” he said. “But I do get tired a lot.”
That affinity for doing it all fits well with dramaturgy.
“You direct. You criticize. A lot of people go for this major and work in the field as a dramaturge,” Lewis explained. “You work alongside directors, and you are the research of the play. You are the script analyst.”
“It’s not so much behind-the-scenes, as behind-the-pen,” he said.
Dramaturgy students go on to become literary managers at New York City theaters, play translators, production workers, and more, CMU School of Drama spokeswoman Erin Scott said.
Lewis’ dream job is to work as a dramaturge and translator for operas in Italy. If that sounds out of reach, Lewis said he chose CMU partly because of its strong postgraduate employment record.
And Opritza doesn’t doubt how far Lewis can go.
“His future is as bright as the brightest shining star can be,” he said.