Scott Saegesser
By Joshua Ruben
Special to the Advance News
Nappanee – Scott Saegesser has traded one zoo for quite another. Saegesser, 38, a one-time zoology major from Mattoon, Ill., now coordinates the efforts of a variety of creative animals as artistic director of Amish Acres Round Barn Theatre.
“Theatre is a combination of almost every other art form for the purpose of having an emotional impact,” Saegesser said. “It’s really overwhelming, if you really thing about it, to see all those things happen at the same time.”
Saegesser decided to pursue a life in the theatre while attending Eastern Illinois University. After a production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein revue, Some Enchanted Evening, he recognized that theatre offered him possibilities beyond the small ensemble roles to which he had typically been relegated.
“I was in a show where I actually got to sing and talk. I realized there was more to this than just dancing around and having fun,” he said. Despite his newfound ambition, Saegesser decided to complete his zoology degree.
“Part of the reason I never changed my major was because I didn’t think my parents would be too happy about it,” he said. “They would have supported me, but they wouldn’t have been thrilled.”
At age 20, his college career was further complicated by the death of his mother. Unable to finish the semester, Saegesser remained in school an extra year to complete his degree. He then made the difficult decision to move to New York and make his theatrical mark, without his mother’s influence.
“It made making life decisions harder because I finally felt responsible,” Saegesser said. “When I moved, it made that decision a lot harder because I didn’t have approval or disapproval. I felt like I had to make that decision on my own.”
When he arrived in New York, Saegesser began taking dance, musical theatre and acting classes to hone his craft. After nearly a year of auditions, he landed his first professional job, under less than glamorous conditions.
“A group of us would get on the bus at the Port Authority every day and go to New Jersey to do The Music Man for old people who were having lunch,” he said.
After years of making the rounds, Saegesser received the phone call to come to Nappanee. Saegesser first joined the Round Barn Theater in 1994 as an actor in its flagship production, Plain and Fancy, a musical dramatizing the culture shock that occurs when a couple of city-folk encounter a traditional Amish community. Though he was hired as a last-minute replacement a week after the rest of the cast had begun rehearsal, Saegesser remained to perform the show eight times a week for eight months.
Saegesser then returned to New York, but after many requests from then Artistic Director Jerry O’Boyle, returned to the Barn and has not left since, he said. When he returned, Saegesser became the Barn’s company manager, overseeing the needs of the theatre’s personnel. He then made his professional directorial debut in 1997 when he co-directed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
The directing process is an intimidating one, Saegesser said. “You’re staring at a blank canvas. It’s overwhelming. There are no answers—only questions. Then, hopefully, once it starts, it all comes together.”
His experience as an actor, Saegesser said, gave him unique perspective as a director. “Directors who have never really worked as actors don’t have a real clear understanding of what an actor goes through,” he said. “You’re better in tune with the process of the actors, not only individually, but as a group. Too many directors make the mistake of treating actors like props.”
This philosophy of respect prepared Saegesser for his most complicated role at the theatre, when he was elevated to artistic director in 2001, he said.
“I have to oversee all the different areas like lights, sound, and costumes, and be the unifying force for all those thing,” Saegesser said. “As a director, you’re responsible for every aspect of the production. As artistic director, you’re responsible for every aspect of the theatre.” Saegesser said his greatest challenge is time management. He typically works at least 60 hours a week, leaving little time for relaxation. Much of his spare time, he said, is devoted to mundane tasks like laundry. The long hours and hard work are well worth it, though, once a production has been mounted, Saegesser said. “It’s really gratifying seeing a production finished and seeing those first big houses become absorbed in the show. I can go into the theatre and it’s completely compelling.”
Saegesser’s love of musical theatre came from his exposure to classic musicals as a child, he said. “I grew up in front of the TV and saw every Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly movie ever made.”
Despite his affection for old musicals, Saegesser is attracted to the raw emotional qualities and storytelling power of newer productions like Les Miserables, Hairspray, and Sideshow, he said. “The way theatre is evolving now, there’s a better melding of play to music. Before, even if a show had a serious theme, it was very formulaic and still musical comedy,” he said.
Saegesser feels fortunate to be surrounded by good friends and self-motivated professionals who require very little management, he said, despite the fact that he may live his life at a musical comedy pace. “I had a friend tell me once that life I not a musical,” he said. “I said, ‘My life is a musical. And I choose it.’”
Home