DJDS Continues to Expand Theater Program

The theater program at Denver Jewish Day School has been in motion for three years, but this year, the program is changing and expanding in some significant ways. What’s different about the program this year?

Chagit Gibor, who has been the director of DJDS’s theater program since its inception, said she started the program because she has "always loved theater" and "felt like the school should have one."

Back then, the production was much smaller. In the first year of the program, when the school put on The Sound of Music, the performance was held in the school gym with a projector as a backdrop.

Additionally, in both the first and second years of the theater program, participation was open to both upper and lower division students. Even so, there were not many upper-division students participating.

This year, Gibor wanted to understand why the program was not appealing to upper division students. In the end, she made the executive decision to split the program into an upper division play and a lower division play. 

As a result, this year’s program appealed to a much wider audience of upper division students and helped facilitate the program’s expansion.“It’s not only about the play you choose; it’s about the level of acting and how people perceive it,” Gibor said.

Lily Weiner, a freshman who is the stage manager for this year’s play, thinks that the presence of more upper division students in the theater program aided in its expansion.“[The theater program this year] has been a lot more positive than the year before,” Weiner said.

Comparing this year’s production of The Wizard of Oz to last year’s production of Fiddler on the Roof, Weiner said the reason this year’s production has been more positive is that they “have more people.”

The presence of more students in this year’s theater program also allowed for the inclusion of more non-actor roles in the production. Some of these roles—like Weiner’s role as stage manager—are student-led.

Since the DJDS theater program has expanded so much in terms of participation, this year’s performance of The Wizard of Oz was held at the Wolf Theater at the JCC.

“Performing at the JCC will make the program feel more professional and will encourage us to put more effort into it,” said Julie Steiner, a sophomore who played Dorothy in the production. “A lot more people are getting excited.”

The DJDS production of The Wizard of Oz this year, which boasts more upper division participation, more behind-the-scenes roles, and a more serious performance venue, marks the next step forward in the school’s theater program.