Theater director Lee Hotovy was trying to perform “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” with her troupe of young actors. Hotovy, who founded S.T.A.G.E. student theater 25 years ago, thought the beloved story of four children discovering Narnia would be perfect for the organization’s mission: to evangelize, educate and entertain.
But it wasn’t going well. She couldn’t make the script work for her group, and every time she made a change, it got more expensive. The problems multiplied, and it just wasn’t going to work. Time to pivot.
Hotovy was homeschooling six of her children at the time, and her son suggested a play focusing on boys. Her first idea was to dramatize the life of St. John Bosco, but she quickly realized there was a “John Bosco” right in her backyard. About an hour away from Lincoln, Nebraska, where S.T.A.G.E. is based, was the original Boys Town, founded by Father Edward Flanagan. And that wasn’t the only personal connection. Hotovy’s mother had been a secretary at Boys Town, and her husband’s step-grandfather was one of the original five boys Father Flanagan rescued from the streets.
It felt like God’s will, so she pivoted again. Hotovy holed herself up in a cabin for several days, and somewhat grumpily sat down to write “Flanagan’s Boys: The Story of Boys Town.”
“That initial weekend was a battle of wills between me and God,” she laughed. “I was sort of, ‘Fine, I’ll do it. But you have to provide the Father Flanagan.'”
Hotovy is flexible. Part of her charism is building up kids who don’t have any obvious flair for theater to begin with. Children will join her group so shy that they barely move, but by the time production day comes, they are boldly acting and even singing and dancing before a crowd.
But building confidence is only one of the goals of S.T.A.G.E. Hotovy and her team work hard to produce something entertaining and engaging, with thoughtful dialogue, gripping drama, detailed sets and costumes and, yes, good acting.
God did send a Father Flanagan, and a great one — but not until the very last minute. As Hotovy prepared, she had to keep trusting God would hold up his end.
The show must go on
Relying on God is a lesson Hotovy, 63, has learned many times while producing two to four plays a year for decades. She often prays a novena of surrender to help her remember to hand the whole thing over to him.
It’s a lot. Her organization deals with the typical crises and chaos of any theater group — fumbled lines and missed cues, equipment that malfunctions, or the time when, two hours before Joan of Arc was due on stage, a prop handler accidentally tipped a can of black paint directly over her spotless white costume.
There’s also the added pressure of a specific mission of evangelization. S.T.A.G.E., which stands for Student Theatre and Godly Evangelization, uses drama to teach the faith, to the audience and also to the actors, the stagehands and everyone involved in the program.
Hotovy put on her very first plays in high school, when she and a friend from drama club produced little plays for elementary school kids to enjoy while munching on peanut butter sandwiches.
But in college, she set theater aside and went on to earn a degree in art, pursuing painting and graphic design as a career.
She married and began to raise a family, and some of her kids gravitated toward theater. One of her daughters had a small part in a community production of “Alice in Wonderland,” and Hotovy was disgusted to find that the company had injected sexual content into it, starting with the very first scene.
She thought, “Well, we can do as well as that. Maybe better.”
So she did. Pope St. John Paul II had just written his Letter to Artists, calling them to bring truth and beauty to the world. And so, using mainly cardboard and duct tape for scenery, Hotovy and a small group of young actors brought the story of Fatima to the little stage in the church basement.
Hotovy describes the process casually: “I just researched some books on Fatima, and put it together, and then we added some music. We’ve had different people help with the music and choreography over the years.”
The Fatima play eventually blossomed into an elaborate outdoor event that her parish wove into its annual Marian celebration, beginning with a candlelight procession and culminating with Mass.
“It was a matter of God placing the right people in my life,” she said.
Combining faith, kids and creativity
But Hotovy admits it hasn’t always been that easy.
“It has been a journey of blood, sweat and tears, but also tremendous fruit,” she said. “I’m a driven person, and there’s a certain amount of pushing; but I also love the combination of the faith, and beautiful stories, and kids and creativity.”
All the kids in S.T.A.G.E. memorize a special prayer and recite it before the curtain opens, and they often sing the Ave Maria together. The atmosphere is overtly Catholic, but the group welcomes anyone who’s interested in broadly Christian themes of love, courage and the defense of truth.
It’s a chance to build bridges between different communities, and this diversity helps the S.T.A.G.E. avoid the insularity that sometimes stunts Catholic groups.
Hotovy has found that non-Catholic parents are just grateful for a theater troupe where their kids can learn the hard work, discipline, teamwork and humility that go into a good production, without having to worry about immodesty, foul language or inappropriate story lines.
“We’re all just here doing something beautiful for God,” Hotovy said.
But even with this focus on a wholesome atmosphere, S.T.A.G.E. strives to produce high-quality entertainment, avoiding the ham-fisted preachiness that bogs down so much kid-friendly religious entertainment.
Early on, a priest gave Hotovy a script for a play about what is arguably the most dramatic event in history: the Incarnation.
“But the play was stiff, dry and painful. Not fun to do,” she said. It wasn’t suitable for kids, and it wasn’t written by someone with a gift for writing in general.
Artistic merit is just as important as the message, and directors from California to Florida to Arizona to Idaho have requested the chance to use S.T.A.G.E. scripts.
“It’s got a message, but it’s done in a creative way,” she said. Sometimes this is achieved in a goofy manner, like the recent production, “The Good, the Bad and the Fuzzy,” a farcical take on the Wild West that explores the dangers of relativism. There is a shoot-out at the “I’m O.K., You’re O.K. Corral,” and the white-hatted sheriff and the mustache-twirling villain act out a funny but poignant melodrama of the struggle between good and evil.
“The audience can boo and hiss and throw popcorn, but they come away with a message to chew on,” Hotovy said.
Sometimes they reach for a more elevated setting, as in “The Custodian of Art,” which is set in a museum where figures from famous paintings (rendered by Hotovy and her artist daughter) come alive, step out of their frames and explore the purpose of art. Hotovy remembers with satisfaction that a trained philosopher in the audience wanted to see her script because he was impressed with the play.
All in God’s hands
The audience is likely to be full of people who aren’t familiar with Catholicism, maybe nonchurchgoers who are there to cheer their grandchildren on. Hotovy wants them to come away not only delighted and entertained, but thoughtful.
But most of all, it’s the children Hotovy wants to reach.
The group’s scripts teach Christian virtues, but so does the process of practicing and presenting a musical or play. One lesson everyone must learn: No one involved in the production is more important than anyone else.
“I’m big on them having humility,” Hotovy said.
Even if one child has the most lines, he couldn’t deliver them without the kid who opens the curtain. They need each other, and they all need God.
“It’s really him,” she said. “I’m just trying to pay attention to the work.”
Hotovy is hoping to eventually pass the reins of S.T.A.G.E. on to a new generation. She figures she has about 10 more years of work in her, and then maybe she can turn it all over to some of the young people who sometimes return to tell her how much S.T.A.G.E meant to them as a child.
Just as the Holy Spirit inspires you to work, he also gives you the nudge to cut the umbilical cord and let it go, Hotovy said.
But not before she whips another group of kids into shape for their 25th anniversary celebration, which will feature that seminal Fatima play. She’s also raising funds to create an arts center that will give S.T.A.G.E a stable home base from which to work, rather than floating around, renting stages and working around church schedules. The space they have in mind is a former high school, and Hotovy envisions it as a space where families can explore not only theater, but art, dance and music. That’s the legacy she’d like to leave when she does retire.
Whether this comes about depends, like everything else, on God.
“It’s all inspired,” she said. “You’re in it, but you wouldn’t be able to go on without the Holy Spirit.”
