Lisa Levenberg, a vocal music teacher and high school theater director for Levittown schools, could have retired three years ago.
“I haven't yet because I just love my job,” she said. “I thought last school year was going to be my last, and then during the show, I turned to my former student, Jake, who works on the shows with me, and I said, ‘I’m not done yet.’”
For Levenberg, whose career has spanned 33 years and more theater productions than she can count, the play’s the thing.
“I love the collaboration,” said Levenberg, a member of Levittown United Teachers. “I love those ‘A-ha’ moments. Those moments when it all comes together, and the audience is out there wildly applauding, and my students get to see a payoff for all their hard work.”
Levenberg’s own theater career began as a middle schooler when her father got her and her siblings involved in community theater. Those early curtain calls gave her self-assurance, and trying different roles gave her a chance to do something outside of herself.
“I think it just gives students confidence, and it lets them shine. In schools, a lot of times it’s all very sports oriented. The athletes shine. The very academically minded kids shine. I think theater gives other kids a chance to shine,” she said. “That's my favorite thing, when other teachers will be like, ‘Are you kidding me? That one did that on stage? They don't say boo in my class!’”
Levenberg established a drama club during her first job at Jonas Salk Middle School in Levittown. In 2013, she transferred to General Douglas MacArthur High School and took over the theater program there and at the district’s second high school, Division Avenue High School, but she also continued to run productions at the middle school; in total, she directed four productions a year, on top of her full-time teaching schedule.
“For the middle school and Division High School, I'll do those rehearsals in the afternoon, and then I will do my rehearsals at MacArthur at night,” she explained.
She gives a lot of credit to her production team. “We have a really good, tight team,” she said. “The best part is that they’re all former students.”
Levenberg works alongside three MacArthur graduates: Helen Papayannakos, a music teacher at Lee Road Elementary and Levittown UT building rep; Jennifer Malin, who works at a local pre-school, and Jake Schauder, who is pursuing his degree in music education. “We’ve been together for a long time,” Levenberg said.
Last year, when Levenberg was nominated for one of the prestigious Roger Rees Awards, it was Schauder, Malin and several other former students who showed up at Levenberg’s classroom on her birthday to deliver the exciting news: she had won the Broadway Education Alliance Award for Excellence in Innovative Theater Arts Education.
“I was just completely shocked. I was not expecting that,” she said. “My students went a little crazy. They were cheering and clapping. It was a big thing.”
Through it all, Levenberg continues to try to create inclusive spaces.
“I try to bring together people from all different aspects of the school,” she said. “It gives them a chance to express themselves in a way that might not normally be available during the regular school day.” She casts football players and students with autism. She brings in teachers from other departments to play niche roles and invites parents in to build sets. “I like it to be a school-wide event as opposed to, ‘This is a music thing,’ or ‘This is a sports thing,’” she said.
She also looks for opportunities for students to run with their creativity and take ownership of show-stealing moments.
In the show, “Alice by Heart,” Levenberg needed rose petals to magically fall from the sky. “I have several kids who are like stage crew whizzes. They are super passionate about making things work,” she said.
For this challenge, they came to school with boxes, magnets, and other contraptions. It took a great deal of trial and error, she said, but after dozens of iterations, they created a system that worked.
“When they saw these rose petals filtering down through the light, you heard this collective gasp from the audience,” she recalled. “And the kids who figured it out were thrilled. They took so much pride in that.”