By Megan Fitzgerald Dunn
As a high school theater teacher and director, Jason Zembuch-Young has spent years behind the scenes readying his students to take the stage. This year, however, Zembuch-Young found himself center stage at the 2023 Tony Awards as the recipient of the Excellence in Theatre Education Award sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University.
The award recognizes U.S. educators from kindergarten to 12th grade who have “demonstrated monumental impact on the lives of students and who embodies the highest standards of the profession.” A panel of judges from the American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League, Carnegie Mellon University, and other leaders in the theater industry selects the winner annually and presents it at the Tony Awards ceremony.
Zembuch-Young, whose Tony is nestled on a shelf at home next to his “Best Dad” trophy, worked at South Plantation High School for 19 years specializing in theater for deaf and hard of hearing students. This school year, however, marked a new beginning for Zembuch-Young, as theatre director at Dr. Joaquin Garcia High School, the first new high school in Palm Beach County in 20 years. Young plans to get to know his new students and their families to see how best he can build an inclusive and diverse theater experience that reflects the specific needs of their community.
With a 2023 Tony award, a 2020 Barnes & Noble Teacher of the Year award, and an honorable mention award for the Tony’s 2019 Excellence in Education award, one might be surprised to know that Zembuch-Young did not set out to be a drama teacher.
Inspired by Robin William’s character, John Keating, in Dead Poet’s Society, Zembuch-Young started his career with a strong pull to be an English teacher, with visions of captivated students reciting “Oh captain, my captain” passionately in his English class.
“Here I am just giving it my all,” he said. “And, I’m being brilliant. I’m being amazing, man. And, I’m looking out at this sea of kids, and I’m getting drool and glossy-eyed children. I was miserable.”
But, he wasn’t miserable for long. Despite not having a background in theater, his early teaching jobs kept pushing him in that direction. Although students in his English class were less than enamored, students in his after school drama club were eager to work with him.
“This little group of kids came along. They just pounced on me,” he said. “They heard I was the new drama guy. They were so energetic so, of course, I was going to work with them. I wasn’t going to bail.”
Having only taken one theater history course and one acting class, Zembuch-Young didn’t know much about what he was expected to teach these students so he took himself to the library and checked out a book, How to Direct Your School Play. The learning curve was steep.
“People were using terms like flats and platforms and I’m like, okay, are we talking about shoes or what?” he said.
So, he checked out another book, Stock Scenery Construction. Although he describes himself as “bad, very very bad,” those first couple of years and his first productions at a middle school as “passable,” Zembuch-Young continued to learn and push both himself and his students.
“I dabbled around with it for a little bit and then the discovery that I made, which was really quite profound, was one of those things – call it God’s plan or kismet or the universe, whatever you want to label it – but I was obviously meant to be doing this,” he said.
Zembuch-Young was struck by the power of theater to give students a sense of place, of community, and of accountability. The theater program kept kids in the public school system from slipping through the cracks.
“People always say ‘kids these days’. You know what, kids these days give me hope. They really do. It is so easy for us to see and focus on the negative. But, if you raise that bar high, I don’t care where the kid comes from, they’re going to reach for it. And, if you actually give them the steps they need in order to reach for it, then they can accomplish anything,” he said.
Zembuch-Young notes the power of theater education. He makes the comparison to a student who does not prepare for his math test, walks into class, and fails. The only person hurt is the student and, when he walks out the classroom, no one is the wiser that he’s not performing well. By contrast, in theater, whether a student is the lead of the show, an ensemble member, running crew backstage, light board operator or the person that builds the props, if a student does not perform, everybody is let down in a very tangible and authentic way.
“And, they are your friends, right? There is this family feel that is created by working so intimately with a group of people towards a common goal,” he said. “And that’s what I absolutely love about theater, too. It doesn’t matter the walk of life from which you came. You can be gay, you can be straight, you can be rich, you can be poor, you can be Black, white, green, blue, you can have an exceptionality or not. Because at the end of the day, there is an opening night coming, and everybody works together for the common goal. And, it’s really quite beautiful.”
