Art Student of the Week

Niwot High School freshman Claire Plath started her theater career at Altona Middle School, where she made the Honor Roll in sixth and seventh grades. Claire first became interested in theater after her mother took her and her sister to see "Les Miserables" when she was in sixth grade. Later that year, they also saw "Dear Evan Hansen."

According to Claire, "The messages, and emotions that a single production can create for someone can be so strong, and life changing to a point where one can truly put their heart and soul into making that change. Theater has helped me in more ways than one this year, helping me find my place in the world, and who I want to be as a person."

While she was attending Altona Middle School, Claire did not consider herself the most outgoing person, but helping out with the spring musical provided a great opportunity for her to see what it was like to work with a team, creating something magical for people.

Claire joined the tech crew, where she was exposed to basic set construction, props, painting, and costuming. Her first director was Sky Seaberry for Altona's production of "Mary Poppins Jr.," and later "Shrek Jr." during her seventh-grade year. To make things even better, the assistant stage manager both years was one of Claire's closest friends, Sasha Solovyev, who is now a junior at Niwot High School.

Claire grew interested in the technical aspect of theater because she felt she was not confident singing or acting. When she was young, she and her cousins and her sister would put on plays for her aunts, uncles, and grandmother. The children would spend days writing scripts and practicing the show. She did enjoy acting to some extent, but it was not what she enjoyed most. Now fifteen, Claire can see that she has found her people in technical theater. She has learned how to handle machinery, like chop, and table saws, along with the basics of lighting and sound equipment. Niwot's Tech Program has helped her develop as an individual.

"When Covid 19 hit," Claire said, "it was pretty hard for me because of the school closing two nights before opening night for "Shrek Jr." We didn't even get to perform once that year."

Even though there was not a production for her eighth-grade year, Claire's mother found a YouTube channel that broadcast Broadway and Off Broadway productions for one weekend. Viewers were able to make donations to help people in the production industry, and streaming those shows helped Claire make it through the pandemic.

Claire decided to go to Niwot High School for the sole purpose of being a part of their tech crew, deciding that was what she wanted to focus on in her high school years. Jason Watkins, theater manager for the high school, spoke enthusiastically about Claire's passion for her work. "Claire has a clear focus of working in theater to make shows look amazing. Her drive to that end has made her one of the shining stars of the technical theater program at Niwot High School," the theater manager said.

Claire has lived in Colorado most of her life. She enjoys camping, biking, volleyball, road trips, and spending time with friends. She lives with her mother Angelique, her father Jeffery, her older sister Katie, and the family dog Avi. They are a close family who spend a lot of time together and enjoy each other's company.

Claire has recently taken a break from playing volleyball because she dislocated her knee in the early months of her eighth-grade year. Volleyball provided an amazing outlet for her to get out of the house and spend time in the real world, and she misses playing that sport, but hopes she can start playing again soon. The injury did give her the option to focus on school and reinforce her love of the theater. "Claire grasps complex concepts and creates stunning pieces in some of our most prominent shows like 'Mamma Mia'," Watkins said. "She is only a freshman - I am really fortunate to have Claire around for another three years."

The most enjoyable part of working on "Mamma Mia," according to Claire, was staying after school weekdays and weekends building the set. When the theater director first showed the class the idea for the set construction, Claire thought the students were in over their heads, but over time, everything slowly came together.

Looking back, her favorite part of being a part of Niwot High School's technical Theater Crew has been the people she has met along the way. This year has helped her heal emotionally after being isolated for so long during the pandemic and Claire is happy to call Niwot High School's technical theater her second family.

Claire said Mr. Watkins has helped her grow as an individual, and has exposed her to new techniques that have increased her technical knowledge. "Mamma Mia" was the most exciting event that happened during the year, because of the energy everyone had. The class was thrilled that Niwot High School broke ticket sales records from previous years. There were fun posts on Instagram from other schools who visited the show, and a lovely short video of the principa,l Mr. Rauschkolb, dancing in the back of the theater to "Dancing Queen" by Abba at the end of the show, shown on the Niwot High School's Tech Program account.

"I would have to say the hardest artistic problem I've had to solve this year would be when Paige Ioerger, Alec Jensen, and I had to come up with a plan to film the show," Claire said. "We spent days watching the rehearsals over and over to get ideas when to have close-ups, and when to have wide shots, when to follow the actor. This process was a lot more complicated than it seems, because you have to find cues, work on communication, and trust the people you're working with to follow through to make the archival video for this production. In the end, we worked out all the kinks, and were able to produce an amazing film for 'Mamma Mia.' Along with set construction, many issues occurred while constructing the set. I can't remember all of them, however I do remember we had a small portion of the set collapse. Luckily, no one was injured. However it did set us behind schedule by a day."

This summer, Claire will be a first-year peer leader at Youth Rising, a summer camp she has been attending for years. Located in Gilbert, Ariz.., the camp is dedicated to helping young people express who they are, and to learn how to make lifelong friendships. This program has helped Claire become the person she is today, and if it were not for the camp, Claire said, she would not be as confident as she is today. After camp, she is traveling to California with her family for her grandmother's eightieth birthday family reunion.

Claire would like to continue to work as a technical assistant in some capacity after high school. After graduation, she would like to attend Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida to focus on astronomy. She wants to be proud of what she does, she says, and enjoy the journey to success.

Although the high school has not yet chosen next year's spring musical, after the March Madness voting there is a possible candidate. Claire wasn't able to reveal that information yet, because the decision still has to be approved. Whatever the spring musical will be, Claire said, she's sure it will be fantastic.