Kenn Naegele directs "Steel Magnolias" for Theatre Bristol.
Kenn Naegele, director and retired schoolteacher, has a personal long history in theater and has selflessly contributed to advancing and sustaining theater in our region.
Born in Utica, New York, he graduated from Oswego State University of New York, certified to teach kindergarten through high school English, and with extensive coursework in speech, theater and vocal music. He was involved in music programs and drama, earning leads like Lucentio in “The Taming of the Shrew.” He participated inchildren’s theater and community theater, where he had lead roles and studied under strong mentorship, and then went on to perform summer stock withrepertory theaters.
He taught elementary school in upstate New York, on the Canadian border for a few years, before moving to Tennessee to teach in the Kingsport City Schools.
It was in Kingsport that he found a climate more to his liking – both weather wise and educationally.
“I left New York behind, having spent a week of my last year there stuck in a blizzard with 10 feet of snow. Much to my former colleagues’ surprise, I found here in Kingsport and the Tri-Cities not only a wonderful, welcoming climate, but complete support and encouragement to use theater and innovative activities to engage my students,” he says.
In Kingsport, he began his directing career with a fifth-grade production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” and was impressed by his students’ talent and willingness to work hard to put on a production that made him very proud.
In those early days, he met Kathy DeCatarina, David Browning, Rick McVey and Mary Beth Raneiro, when he was given the opportunity to direct Theatre Bristol’s “South Pacific.” He pointed out he had little experience but great enthusiasm to direct.
“I have since directed several musicals for Theatre Bristol on the Paramount stage, and I am now proud to say that we are in rehearsal for my first non-musical in a while, ‘Steel Magnolias’ for the Cameo stage.
“All of this brings me to what I consider the most important aspect of my love for the theater, my students. I founded Sevier on Stage, my school drama program, at John Sevier Middle School in Kingsport, and directed it for 25 years. During that time, we produced a major play or musical every year, pioneered middle school forensics in our region, and supervised the conversion of an ordinary classroom into The Lunchbox Theatre, where grant money paid to black out the windows and install a modular stage, and complete lighting and sound equipment, where my students learned and practiced all aspects of performance and technical theater.
“I am proud to say that in lighting and sound my students far surpassed me and each year taught underclassmen more than I ever could. This black box theater also served as a venue for one-act plays, some student-written, as well as art exhibits, speech presentations, “mini-courses” and other events of schoolwide interest.
“Most gratifying has been the knowledge that these experiences had a major impact on thousands of kids through the years. I know that many considered our time together as a refuge, a reason to come to school each day. Every interested student has always had the opportunity to contribute. Especially in middle school, they all deserve the chance to explore their interests and discover their talents. I thoroughly believe that participation in theater raises scores on the standardized tests that mean so much to so many. It is important to note that parents were a huge part of Sevier on Stage, not only supporting their own children, but getting to know and interact with the whole spectrum of middle school kids.
“To this day, I often run into former students who say how much their lives are enriched by those experiences and those memories. I have had the pleasure to direct more than one former student as an adult in my Theatre Bristol shows, including currently one of my ‘Steel Magnolias.’ I am happy to say that I am not ready yet to slow down and look forward to more opportunities to work with the community of artists that I have come to consider family.
“As for the community, I am daily astounded at the number and the variety of opportunities in our region to participate in all aspects of the arts, especially theater. Children and adults, visitors and residents see an array of talent and artistic expression that cannot be duplicated nor forgotten.
“This award is a great honor and most unexpected. It is certainly an affirmation that I have made a difference through the years, which is very gratifying, but it makes me feel more than ever that I am a part of a community that does so very much to enrich the people, the families, and the organizations of our region,” Naegele says.
