Springer Hosts Musician in Residence John Bromels

The Musician in Residence for 2011 was actor, singer, director and teacher John Bromels. Bromels is an accomplished playwright, whose work has been produced up and down the east coast. He has received a Kennedy Center medal for playwriting, and another for dramatic criticism, and has worked with theater companies in New York, New Mexico and Florida.

During his two-week residency at Springer, Bromels worked with a group of Intermediate students daily. On the final day of his stay, he directed the students in a musical production that was custom written for Springer and borrowed music from Seussical, The Musical.

“I wanted to create a production that involved every student in music, dance and acting,” said Bromels. “As a result, many characters were played by multiple students, but each student had at least one solo line, and all had opportunities to dance and sing.”

Intermediate student Jake Bambauer said he’d never done anything like this before, but he found the experience to be fun and especially enjoyed working on the production with his friends. “I learned how important it is to be respectful of the people I was working with,” said Jake. “I had to listen and pay attention, or I wouldn’t know what I was supposed to do.”

Bromels’ two-week residency was not his first visit to Springer. He has taught an After School Program in drama and has worked with Upper School students during a unit on musical theater.

The Musician in Residence program is made possible through a fund established in honor of Dr. Norita Aplin, recognizing her 14 years of leadership at Springer.