Tibbits Opera House

Joining us for his first summer at Tibbits, as the Frog Prince himself, is T. Chad Henke. Chad has just finished his freshman year at SUNY Cortland, next year he will be attending University of Buffalo pursuing a BFA in Musical Theatre.


I interviewed Chad after just getting off an overnight train ride from Poughkeepsie, NY, which is how he arrived in Coldwater. Chad said that his first impression of Coldwater was the size of it reminded him of his own hometown, Diver Plains in the Hudson Valley, NY. This is Chad's first time away from the east coast and he was struck by the awesome beauty of the theatre, upon entering Tibbits.


Chad has worked the past three summers at a summer stock called Tri Arts Sharon Playhouse in Sharon, CT. He began working there after his sophomore year in high school, which is when Chad says he began to get serious about doing theatre for a living. He began tap and theatre dance classes during that year, but his love for ballet began in college.

At 19 years old, he laughed when I asked his advice for young people interested in performing theatre. Chad said he is one of the odd ones who loves to be in the chorus, he is a singer first, but loves to dance, and as a tall Bass/ Baritone he gets a lot of work filling out the voices in the chorus. He advises young theatre people, "if you love the theatre, you will love to do anything in the show, from onstage to backstage, do as much as possible." He mentioned a summer he rehearsed for 3 weeks for a 30 second appearance onstage, and said, "I had the time of my life." Chad's dream roles include Link in Hairspray and Greg in A Chorus Line. Chad will also be joining us here at Tibbits this summer in Chicago and Charlotte's Web.

Our Technical Director and designer of all our Popcorn Show sets is Rudy Schuepbach. Originally from Hoodriver, OR, Rudy has his AA degree from Lower Columbia College, BA in Performance and Direction from Central Washington University and has just completed his MFA in Theatre Scenic Design from Wayne State in Detroit. This is Rudy's 2nd year in the TD position at Tibbits.

When asked why he returned, he said he enjoyed the balance between life and work here at Tibbits. He is in search of a year long position now, but for the moment, Rudy is enjoying his return to Tibbits, along side of his girlfriend, our Popcorn Costume Designer Clare Hungate-Hawk.

Rudy has been performing since he was 2 years old, first as the "Changeling Child" in Midsummer Night's Dream at his local high school. His mother told him that at one performance, he got caught in the curtains during an exit and continued to bow his way off stage. Rudy's older sister was involved in theatre, and by 8th grade, Rudy was involved in high school productions as well.

Back When the Animals Walked designed by Rudy Schuepback

After graduating from undergrad with a performance degree, Rudy crossed paths with someone who seemed very happy designing sets. Rudy's father was a general contractor and Rudy had already been building sets on scholarship at his undergrad university, so the shift to technical theatre for Rudy was an easy transition. He hopes that his transition to scenic theatre design will aid his passion for both acting and designing. He wants to be an "every man," design and build sets from 9 to 5 and then go perform theatre at night.


Rudy's advice to those who want to "do it all," is "don't let people tell you you can't."  Classmates of Rudy's told him he was wasting time acting instead of working on his scenic design skills, the summer after his 1st year of grad school.  Rudy likes to say, but joking all in fun, that he has creative ADD, he wants to do it all and doesn't see why he shouldn't get to.  

Rudy has worked for Coho Theatre in Portland OR, Seattle Musical Theatre, Performance Network in Ann Arbor MI and Hilberry Theatre in Detroit.  Rudy also worked for 10 summers as a director, acting teacher, camp counselor extraordinaire for a theatre camp called Columbia Gorge School of Theatre in Portland, OR for middle and high school kids. He loves the camp's motto that if kids feel safe and feel comfortable, they are able to make strong acting choices and grow as actors.

These are the just a few gifts children's theatre brings to kids.  We hope to see you at The Frog Prince, opening Friday July 6th at 10am, and also playing July 7th, July 13th and 14th.

See you at the show!!!