Tracey Vaughan: Sharing the power of theater

Tracey Vaughan spent the last decade at Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy helping young students learn and grow through theater.

Earlier this year, Vaughan was selected to take over the helm of Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre, replacing Laura Little as the organization’s executive director.

For Vaughan, a Coeur d’Alene native and lifelong “theater person,” it’s an opportunity she’s been rehearsing for her whole life.

Vaughan recently sat down with The Press and discussed her journey and her feelings about making this transition from teaching at Charter to becoming the full-time director of Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre.

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Will you continue teaching in your leadership role with Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre?

At Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre there are some educational opportunities and to me, no matter where you are doing theater, it might not be a formal education setting, but theater in and of itself is an educational experience, whatever side you’re on. It’s absolutely an educational experience, all around. So, to me, that’s not something that I’m giving up. I’ve talked with Charter about consulting. I’m available to help in whatever capacity Charter asks of me. We have a great relationship. We’ll continue to have a great relationship. I work across the street from them, and I foresee that being an ongoing part of who I am. I am a lifelong scholar, and probably a lifelong teacher though that is a more humbling prospect than being a lifelong scholar, so I can’t imagine that my life would not always have some form of education in it, but the formal part of being a public school teacher, I don’t know where that will lead.

You’ve been at Charter for 10 years. Was there a theater program at the school when you started there?

No. They didn’t have a full-time program. I used to be the artistic executive director at the Lake City Playhouse. I was there for three years and one of the things that happened for me was, I started directing some children’s plays in my capacity there. I found that was something I enjoyed so much that I wanted to explore it more. I got into my own company, called Stage Directions, where I was offering workshops, classes, small productions, that kind of thing, with a lot of students. All of that continued to develop and grow and lead me in a direction where I felt that I really wanted to work with youth and continue that, passing along the education that I had picked up through all my studies.

I knew that the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy didn’t have a drama program, and so I approached them. It was something they were immediately interested in doing, to expand their offerings for their students.

When you studied theater and you got your MFA, were you thinking you would be a teacher, or did you want to be a star of stage and screen?

I really wanted to work in professional theater, and that is something I’ve always wanted to do, in whatever capacity that is, because I believe in the power of theater. I believe in the power of theater to change lives, from the level of performer, to designer, to director and to certainly, audience members. I think professional theater takes that to a level that allows for that to happen in a way that is special, because when I consider how educational theater changes lives — it absolutely does that — from all perspectives, probably more so, from the student perspective because they’re growing so much as individuals. I appreciate that professional theater allows for everyone to have the same kind of quality growth and transformation.

Is that part of the reason this position at Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre appeals to you?

When I heard about the position, I was extremely excited. I love my job at Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy, but the opportunity to work in professional theater was too much to pass up. Not only is it professional theater. It’s my home town.

Growing up, as a theater person, I knew, as a teenager that I wanted to do theater, that I absolutely loved it and I just loved the way you’re able to convey messages through theater, what a beautiful art form it is and how it’s so collaborative. Always the standard in this town has been Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre and so to have an opportunity to work with what I consider a cultural icon of our town, is really, really special to me. I feel very lucky.

What’s the lineup for this season?

We’re going “Peter and the Starcatcher” and the “Music Man,” and “The Little Mermaid.” We also have a few staged readings. We’re doing “The Great Gatsby” and “Lombardi.” Of course, we have a cabaret performance of “The Bad Boys of Broadway” in August, and a couple of other events this summer.

Did you do any acting yourself?

That’s how I started, as a teenager and in my early 20s, I did all kinds of acting. I acted at Coeur d’Alene High School, where I attended high school, and Lake City Playhouse, which at that time was called the Coeur d’Alene Community Theater, and North Idaho College. Probably the piece that I did that most people are aware of is, I was Ann Frank in the “Diary of Ann Frank.” A really cool connection was that I got to direct it there recently and have that nice transformation of having been in it to getting to direct it, and that was just a special, really special way to bookend that. They were really cool experiences both times.

What part of your new job at CST are you most excited about?

I am really excited to interact with artists and audience members and board members and staff members who are excited about theater. My students are excited about theater. My fellow workers, colleagues and administrators are very, very supportive about the drama department. This is different in that these artists who are involved at CST have committed their lives to theater. We have professional actors and designers and people who have committed their lives to it, and to me that is really cool, because I have too. I’m excited to interact with our audiences. We have people who have been attending our shows for years and years and years, to brand-new people who come in and interact with us and are excited about who we are. There is something about live theater, about the interaction that happens and the energy that is there from whichever side of the curtain you’re on that is just exciting to be around, and I’m excited to be around that and be a part of that.