Next Generation: Coleman Peterson

Having a full-length, original musical produced on multiple regional stages is no easy feat—perhaps even more so when the playwright question is a mere 22 years old. But a deep and abiding love of musical theatre is something that Coleman Peterson has been cultivating for well more than a decade.

A current Augustana University senior, Peterson dabbled in performance from a young age, but once Sioux Falls-based Dakota Academy of Performing Arts (DAPA) came along there was no turning back from a future on and off the stage.

“I’m a DAPA kid, born and bred,” Peterson said of his years on the Belbas Stage at the Washington Pavilion. It was in eighth grade, though, that this penchant for performing translated into writing.

“My mom had directed a couple of shows in Tea, because there wasn’t anything for the kids in town to do,” he said of his junior high years. “I’d just finished performing in Peter Pan (with DAPA) and thought, ‘What if we did this in Tea for the younger kids?’”

This question led to the development of Creative Kids Theatre—a summer program where Tea youth would rehearse a production throughout the week and perform over the weekend.

(Pictured, From Left) Casey Schultz & Coleman Peterson perform in Crushed: A Mini-Musical at Augustana University’s Claire Donaldson New Play Festival in Fall 2019.

“I would adapt a little show and teach it to the kids,” Peterson said, “using what I’d seen my directors do, trying to mimic that—teaching myself, really. That’s sort of my entry point for writing and directing.”

That passion for the behind-the-scenes roles in theatre kept growing into his high school years, directing youth productions and eventually beginning to write his own original pieces.

“I was just finding opportunities to do stuff I found fun,” Peterson said. “Things that would keep me entertained. I never played a single sport my whole life, so I needed to keep myself busy with other things.”

One particular milestone came his senior year of high school, where he partnered with his choir director Janice Gilbert to create a piece for the students to perform.

“(Gilbert) suggested writing our own instead of trying to find the perfect piece,” he said. “She was a songwriter, so I figured we could probably make something work.”

What resulted was Puberty: The Musical, an ode to the discomfort of adolescence.

“It’s something everyone goes through,” Peterson said, “and everyone thinks it’s funny and awkward—there’s a lot of material there.”

After drafting the show over holiday break, the piece debuted that spring of Peterson’s senior year.

“I think the whole school environment was kind of buzzing around it,” he said. “I’d always felt like it would be just like any other high school performance.”

Seeing the show come to life and gain support from his peers and from the community was gratifying for Peterson, and the writing bug had officially taken hold.

“You leave it behind and you’re like, ‘What now? I’ll never get another idea as good as that.’”

Leaving Tea Area High School and entering as a freshman at Augustana, Peterson took a new approach—creating a mini-musical, Golden, based around the characters from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The show was staged his sophomore year.

“It wasn’t to the scale of Puberty, because I didn’t know where it would end up fitting in,” he said. “I think I thrive knowing the environment or the requirements of what a project will have to be. Finding those has become my next challenge.”

His most recent work, Crushed: A Mini-Musical, debuted last fall at the Claire Donaldson New Play Festival on Augustana’s campus. And as Peterson dabbles more in the songwriting part of musical composition, he’s found more satisfaction in his writing process.

“I’m a terrible keyboard player, but I was a percussionist in high school, so a lot of the piano music I write is percussive in nature,” he said. “A lot of my stuff is orchestrating for keyboard, bass and drumset, and it seems to get the sound I want.

“That’s the part I really love—I didn’t know songwriting would be such a fun experience.”

As he’s grown as an artist through the years, Peterson cites these early influences as a big part of his performing arts journey.

“Bob (Wendland) was such a role model for me,” he said of DAPA’s former coordinator. “Seeing someone who’s really similar to how I view myself—he was always there being the director and being able to do everything, which I always wanted to do.”

And his early collaborations with Gilbert have continued to affect and inspire him, including a new staging of Puberty at Augustana in 2018 that was recognized by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for excellence in playwriting and musical theatre.

“She showed me that it’s easier than I thought to whip something up and present it to people,” Peterson said. “And to have so much fun while doing it.”

As he looks to the future and where his playwriting might take him, Peterson said his goal post-graduation is to eventually teach elementary education and direct youth productions during the school year and to spend his summers writing.

“When you think about the shows that are really successful, there are always moments that are real.”

“Eventually I’d like to get to a spot where my ideas are versatile enough where they can be funny but also relatable.

“I feel like that’s what my voice is—to be funny and quirky. I tend to think like an actor—what sorts of moments would I enjoy? Creating things I think would be interesting from an actor’s or singer’s point of view.”

In the meantime, Peterson is keeping busy working on a new musical, as well as dabbling in songwriting for choral groups at Augustana.

“I love to do it all,” he said. “If anyone has an idea they want to bring to life, I would love to do it. It keeps me stimulated.”