Drama Teacher's Survival Guide

Margaret F. Johnson

All I Needed to Know I Learned From Mrs. Johnson

Don’t wait until the last possible moment.
Don’t rush through things.
Take the time to do it right the first time.
If in doubt ask.
Take the initiative.
Know what you are doing before you start.
More isn’t always better.
Less isn’t always worse.
Make sure it’s safe.
Be polite.
Take off your hats.
Don’t chew gum.

“I was one the luckiest people–I fell in love with theatre when I was a freshman in high school and was able to follow my dream teaching drama at Sentinel High School in Missoula, Mt. for 37 years directing over 190 productions from children’s theatre to full-blown musicals like Fiddler On the Roof, Godspell, and Sound Of Music.” In 1992 Margaret was the first drama director inducted into the Montana Forensic Educators Hall of Fame. In 2000 was the first recipient of the Montana Theatre Educator of the Year award. In April of 2007 she was honored for her years of teaching by the Fine Arts Department at the University of Montana’s Odyssey of the Stars–Legends and Legacies: A Tribute to Two Grand Dames and in 2010 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Montana Theatre Education Association. Margaret was born and raised in the small farming community of Glasgow, Montana, a very long way from Broadway! “I never went into education to create Broadway actors/technicians. I just wanted to teach my students an appreciation of theatre.

She also has had the privilege of seeing several of her students go on in theatre and continue to do very well. Kathleen McNenny was on Broadway in An Enemy Of The People in the fall of 2012 and was seen in the Tony Winning The Father in 2016 Andy Taylor, who at age 6, played Michael in Peter Pan [but attended another high school] was in Once, the 2012 Tony Winning musical and Derek Hanson was on broadway in Anything Goes, Side Show and An American in Paris. He also toured in Cats and A Chorus Line. Scott Michael Campbell, a television and movie actor [featured in Brokeback Mountain], recently was seen in episodes of Longmire, Unsolved and Shameless as well as the movies, Hellbent, Jessica Frost and Veterans Day. John Shaffner, an Emmy winning Production Designer for such shows as Big Bang Theory, Mike and Molly and Mom, has retired as the CEO and chairman of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

One of her joys in retirement is acting with Missoula Community Theater (a branch of Missoula Children’s Theater) receiving 3 Best Local Actress awards. It allows her to work with former students who also love theater. Some of her favorite roles were; a pirate in The Pirates of Penzance, Betty in The Foreigner, Mother Superior in Nunsense, Mother Burnside in Mame, Judge Yertle in Seussical and recently Martha in Arsenic and Old Lace.

She has also added teaching ‘The Over 50 Crowd’ at The Montana Osher Lifelong Learning Institute [MOLLI], a part of The School of Extended and Lifelong Learning at the University of Montana. “I’ve fallen in love with teaching all over again.