Artists in Observation

In a region brimming with arts opportunities of all disciplines, interests and passions, Sioux Falls is thriving with worthwhile creators putting out work that’s exciting, enriching and, most importantly, novel. For our annual Faces to Watch roundtable, we assembled four such creatives, whose work of late has been well worth sitting up and taking note.

Pictured: Ebony Shanklin, San Antonio, Texas native and University of South Dakota musical theatre graduate; local DJ, host and emcee; recent performer in the Premiere Playhouse’s Cinderella and Grease; and recent performer in the Good Night Theatre Collective’s Spring Awakening (Credit: Peter Chapman)

What’s most exciting about the state of Sioux Falls performing arts?

Ebony Shanklin: For me, it's just the variety of shows that are being presented this year. Honestly, I've lived back in Sioux Falls since 2013 and hadn’t gotten back into it until (The Premiere Playhouse’s) Cinderella. It was the first thing that interested me in a long time. So I just like the variety of shows that are being put on now. It's more exciting. (The Good Night Theatre Collective) doing Spring Awakening is a huge thing. I've always wanted to be in that since it came out and, so, dream come true for me.

Brady Boerema: And I think it’s the amount of theater companies that are coming up that provide opportunity for people to audition for different types of shows and be involved in different ways. There's the Premiere Playhouse, Monstrous Little Theatre Company, Good Night Theatre Collective and so much more, which is really cool. And it’s the fact that more people are able to participate in theatre, especially outside of an educational standpoint, because after high school and college, it seems to get a little bit harder and harder to be involved in the arts. And so I'm glad that theatre companies are more inclusive to people rather than exclusive.

Greta Smith: I value the niche efforts of the folks that are doing maybe smaller projects or less explored work. Obviously we have places in town that do the big ones, so maybe I should say it’s the range of efforts. We have on the one hand some companies that are doing really small work, down to staged readings of local stuff and small-cast shows, like four or five people. All the way up to Cinderella and Grease and what the larger companies are working on. I think that's cool that in any company that you follow that’s producing locally, you could pick a small or big show to be a part of — you have choices, which I think is really neat.

Scott Spexarth: I would say for me it is also the variety of shows and the variety of productions and even spaces that put on shows and events — but also the talent. There are a lot of really talented younger people especially, and that's not a common thing with community theatres in my experience elsewhere. I've only been to one or two community theatres, but just the production value and the raw talent that people have here is just… it's incredible and it makes me want to do as many of them as I can or at least go and see as many of them as I can. There’s just a lot of talent out there.

Pictured: Brady Boerema, local theatre performer and technician and University of Sioux Falls graduate; collective member with the Good Night Theatre Collective; recent performer in such productions as Spring Awakening, Company, Little Women and Salem; recipient of the 2021-22 Stage Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play or Musical for Into the Woods; and area DJ and event host (Credit: Peter Chapman)

What differentiates Sioux Falls as a theatre community?

GS: I think with Augie, USF — and USD and SDSU nearby — we have a lot of new, young talent coming into the area consistently, paired with a lot of folks who have been doing it here for a long time. There are so many people that want to get the word out and they want to talk about these kinds of things. It is almost like there's just a big willingness to explore and to do your own thing. And I think that kind of dovetails off of itself. Putting a piece of work out there, it can gain traction if it's in a receptive space. So I think my theory, anyway, is that maybe it comes down to the receptiveness of the participants and the willingness and the interest, especially if you remove some of the barriers. It's not like the performing arts space in Sioux Falls is a who's who or a clique. There’s not a bar to your entry. You can be involved, you can show up, and that creates willingness and receptiveness that, in turn, I think, snowballs. That's my theory.

BB: I feel like here I'm valued when I'm a member of a cast or production. I can't speak for how theatre is in bigger cities, but I know that I wouldn't like to be treated as a number. It might be more cutthroat — I feel like there's not as big of a community or family aspect to it, whereas we have that here. We're all very much more involved in each other's lives because we all are doing something else outside of just theatre. When we come together, we all have something that we're bringing with us and it's important that we're all taking the time and talking about that and debriefing with one another and laughing and crying with one another. And I don't think that you get that in necessarily a large-city theatre company.

ES: I just recently joined the community back in April, but where I was in Texas, there were no organization — theatre was more of a jumping-off point for people to do commercials and get their foot in the door and do other things. They weren't people who were in love with theatre, they were just trying to get a step up to go do something else. So that's a difference that I see here. People who are involved in it love it — that's what they want to do and it makes a big difference when you're not using it as a stepping stone to go somewhere else. You can cultivate and love it and it shows in the productions.

BB: I feel like there's definitely a sense and a willingness to help each other out. “Hey, there's a role that I think you would be perfect for, and these people are doing auditions,” and that sort of thing. We’re communicating.

ES: I like how we try to support each other and make sure we all know about opportunities that would work for us. That did not happen in other communities for me. I get to do more of what I love. 

GS: There’s this conversational type of curiosity that, when you show up somewhere, people want to know, “What do you do?” And if you are kind of under this artist's umbrella, you probably do more than one thing. You probably sing, maybe you act, do tech, you've done stuff in high school, you've done stuff here, you do costumes, you do makeup. It's like jacks of all trades. But I think we are able to be that way because we don't have these intense specializations that limit us and instead, we're used to being team players and community builders. We’re curious about each other because we want to build something that works and that lasts. And so that's what I found when I put my work out there consistently. It is met with curiosity. What else do you do? What does it mean? These are the types of questions that artists seem to ask.

Pictured: Greta Smith, Minnesota native and University of Sioux Falls graduate; recent performer in Monstrous Little Theatre Company’s Independence, for which she received the 2022-23 Sioux Falls Stage Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play or Musical; accomplished playwright, painter and photographer, whose work includes the USF-produced and recently MLTC-staged play, Ruby (Credit: Peter Chapman)

What has been your single proudest moment working in the arts in Sioux Falls?

SS: I think that would probably have to be (the Premiere Playhouse’s) Grease, just because, going into it, it was very daunting. They had 20-30 actors and another six or seven musicians. And so it was a very in-your-face-all-at-once kind of a thing. I got to break it down piece by piece, build all the layers back up, and, by the end of it, I was really enjoying mixing that show. Everyone did a phenomenal job — all the actors, all the crew, all the musicians. So it was really fun to be a part of that process and see how well it was received by the audience in particular. That's really what I'm there for is to translate the artist's visions to the audience more clearly.

GS: I would say the process of working on (Monstrous Little Theatre Company’s) independence — it was so cool, because I viewed the whole process, going back to my junior year of college. I had done a workshop with Debbi Jones where I first discovered the show and she said, “(Monstrous is) going to do this next year.” I went out for the role, and I was able to feel like the role was a fit for me. I felt very supported by the small cast that we had, and I remember just showing up to the first reading and thinking, “Wow, we're not playing around.” These women, these character — it was a whole moment. Working with them was so inspiring, just to see the dedication. I was very proud of the work that we put into it.

BB: Being able to work on an original production like (the Good Night Theatre Collective’s) Salem was something new for me and involved multi-generational theatre. It brought kids from the Dakota Academy of Performing Arts and the community, and being able to encompass all ages in a brand-new story and having live music — it was special to be able to put together a brand-new show from the ground up. It was just such a cool process, being able to build and create something new with people that are also excited about creating something new. I am super thankful and super proud that I got to be a part of that. If we hold those projects up just a little higher than we do the established shows, then I feel like those original shows will just get that much more of the love they deserve.

ES: Grease was actually my first principal role in a musical, period. The last time I'd been in a musical was A Chorus Line. I was a backstage singer as a senior at USD, so it was just a proud moment for me because I finally felt like I did enough work to get something bigger. And my brothers actually came to see the show, and that's a big deal. So it was just a proud moment for me, personally.

Pictured: Scott Spexarth, Wichita, Kan. native and certified audio engineer; video and audio technician with the Washington Pavilion; recent sound engineer for the Premiere Playhouse’s Grease and the Good Night Theatre Collective’s Spring Awakening and Company; accomplished recording studio engineer (Credit: Peter Chapman)

What haven’t you accomplished in the performing arts that’s on your to-do list?

ES: For me it's hosting. I do that kind of at my DJ job, but I'd like to actually host an entire show from beginning to end — be an emcee. I like doing that kind of stuff, so interacting with the audience, getting them to laugh, presenting.

SS: I'd like to do post-production audio work in a studio where people come in either with their instruments or to sing and I mix and master. I've done some of it just on the side as a hobby, not actually professionally, but I have played around with it and it's something that I really enjoy doing, and so I would like to get a little more into that.

BB: I've been helping with choreography for a couple of middle schools for the past couple of years for show choir. I love dancing and would like to help choreograph a production sometime, rather than necessarily being in the show. I’d also love to direct — just being off the stage and helping arrange how the story is told rather than tell the story.

GS: I think I crave time away from the camera and the spotlight and in a place that maybe is more collaborative and more imaginative, because I'm finding that the spaces that I like to be in are very much like this one where there's a group of folks working on something together, trying to break the limits of creativity. So maybe something that looks more like an assistant stage manager role or a props person — something that would allow me to see with humbleness the whole thing come together. I’d love to be able to be in a spot that allows me to reflect on the wholeness of a group and what it means to be a part of the support system. There's so much more going on than you see as just a performer.

Who would you say are some of the undersung players in our arts community?

SS: I've been working under Dale Pope (at the Washington Pavilion), and he just knows so much. He's been in this industry for many years, and I enjoy getting to learn from him —all of his little tricks that he's found out the hard way I get told about in advance so I don't make the same mistakes. I really appreciate him for that. Every show that comes in, I learn another little trick, a little tidbit, some effects that I can throw on there that I wouldn't have thought to use that way before.

ES: I’d shout out Magen Richeal, who was our choreographer for Grease and assistant-directed The Little Mermaid. She just makes people feel welcome here. She’s a great choreographer, and she also comes to support my non-theatre stuff, too. She and Clinton Store are heroes to me.

(Credit: Peter Chapman)

What are your hopes for the future of local performing arts? 

ES: Well, for me personally, I'm trying to bring Etta (McKinley) and Allegra (Sekely) and Clinton (Store) in to a black theatre collective to maybe put on some more heavily colored shows around here. I really want to do Aida, for instance, one of my favorite shows of all time. To bring more opportunities for people of color in this community. Companies will certainly color-blind cast, but at the same time, it's still hard out here for a person of color, period. Whether it's putting on more rap karaoke, or doing smaller productions like A Raisin in the Sun, it’s not something that I have personally been able to do because nowhere I've gone has had a black theatre collective. I would love to see one here. Etta’s already got a little black-girl-magic thing going, so we want to expand off of it and put it into the arts.

BB: We need more of that magic!

SS: I'm excited to see a lot of the younger people that are just starting out in theatre move into these bigger local productions. There is a lot of raw talent out there, and it can be nice to have a wide variety of ages in shows. For instance, (the Good Night Theatre Collective’s) Spring Awakening. It is nice to see a lot of younger up-and-coming actors get in on that. I know a lot of the DAPA graduates have gone on to these other local theatre companies, and that’s a really cool thing to see. An investment locally. But also, just personally, I kind of want to see more Stephen Sondheim musicals, because I really like his music and for no other reason just because of that fact. So I'm excited for Sweeney Todd later in this season.

GS: I would love to see groups of writers talk about the projects they've been working on or people that want to come together and just dream about what's next. A space for dramaturgy. “What are your ideas? What are my ideas? What happens if they collide?” I think of this in the songwriting world, too. I enfold some of you into me when we meet, whether that's what you've been writing or the things I admire about you. We enrich each other in that way, which is the collaborative nature of art that we all find so exhilarating. I think I'd like to see some more places to just talk about that and, in doing so, create things to work on together or create initiative.