Theater director Lee Hotovy was trying to perform “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” with her troupe of young actors. Hotovy, who founded S.T.A.G.E. student theater 25 years ago, thought the beloved story of four children discovering Narnia would be perfect for the organization’s mission: to evangelize, educate and entertain.
But it wasn’t going well. She couldn’t make the script work for her group, and every time she made a change, it got more expensive. The problems multiplied, and it just wasn’t going to work. Time to pivot.
Hotovy was homeschooling six of her children at the time, and her son suggested a play focusing on boys. Her first idea was to dramatize the life of St. John Bosco, but she quickly realized there was a “John Bosco” right in her backyard. About an hour away from Lincoln, Nebraska, where S.T.A.G.E. is based, was the original Boys Town, founded by Father Edward Flanagan. And that wasn’t the only personal connection. Hotovy’s mother had been a secretary at Boys Town, and her husband’s step-grandfather was one of the original five boys Father Flanagan rescued from the streets.
It felt like God’s will, so she pivoted again. Hotovy holed herself up in a cabin for several days, and somewhat grumpily sat down to write “Flanagan’s Boys: The Story of Boys Town.”
“That initial weekend was a battle of wills between me and God,” she laughed. “I was sort of, ‘Fine, I’ll do it. But you have to provide the Father Flanagan.’”
Hotovy is flexible. Part of her charism is building up kids who don’t have any obvious flair for theater to begin with. Children will join her group so shy that they barely move, but by the time production day comes, they are boldly acting and even singing and dancing before a crowd.
But building confidence is only one of the goals of S.T.A.G.E. Hotovy and her team work hard to produce something entertaining and engaging, with thoughtful dialogue, gripping drama, detailed sets and costumes and, yes, good acting.
God did send a Father Flanagan, and a great one — but not until the very last minute. As Hotovy prepared, she had to keep trusting God would hold up his end.
Relying on God is a lesson Hotovy, 63, has learned many times while producing two to four plays a year for decades. She often prays a novena of surrender to help her remember to hand the whole thing over to him.
It’s a lot. Her organization deals with the typical crises and chaos of any theater group — fumbled lines and missed cues, equipment that malfunctions, or the time when, two hours before Joan of Arc was due on stage, a prop handler accidentally tipped a can of black paint directly over her spotless white costume.
There’s also the added pressure of a specific mission of evangelization. S.T.A.G.E., which stands for Student Theatre and Godly Evangelization, uses drama to teach the faith, to the audience and also to the actors, the stagehands and everyone involved in the program.
Hotovy put on her very first plays in high school, when she and a friend from drama club produced little plays for elementary school kids to enjoy while munching on peanut butter sandwiches.
But in college, she set theater aside and went on to earn a degree in art, pursuing painting and graphic design as a career.
She married and began to raise a family, and some of her kids gravitated toward theater. One of her daughters had a small part in a community production of “Alice in Wonderland,” and Hotovy was disgusted to find that the company had injected sexual content into it, starting with the very first scene.
She thought, “Well, we can do as well as that. Maybe better.”
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I’m always looking for more Catholic and Catholic-friendly artists, performers, and others involved in the arts (restorers, architects, song writers, choreographers, etc.) to interview for this monthly profile! Please send suggestions to simchafisher at gmail dot com with “artist profile” in the title. Thanks!
