Faculty member revives theatre program to serve Lancaster campus, community
Victor Jones, a lecturer in and artistic director of Ƶ Lancaster’s Theatre Program, is all smiles as he poses for a photo with longtime friend Jennifer Myers, who starred in the program’s 2018 summer community production, “Hello, Dolly!” Jones has spent the past 10 years rebuilding the theatre program at Ƶ Lancaster – a program that today serves both the campus and the community. Photo by Ben Wirtz Siegel, BSVC ’02
“It always starts with a seed – a dream. I tell my students that you can create your own path. You can create your own destiny.”
That’s exactly what Victor Jones has been doing for the past nearly 10 years, reviving a theatre program that draws people to Lancaster, Ohio, and gives students and community members alike their moments in the spotlight.
A lecturer in and artistic director of Ƶ Lancaster’s Theatre Program, Jones grew up in the community where, at an early age, he developed a love for music that blossomed into a passion for theatre. As a student at Lancaster High School, he immersed himself in the school’s theatre program and recalls attending a production of “The Fantasticks,” featuring his choir teacher, at Ƶ’s Lancaster Campus.
Jones left the Lancaster community to pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theatre and entered the field of broadcast journalism. He was working as a television news producer in Cleveland in 1999 when the declining health of his parents beckoned him to return home. He spent the next 10 years serving as a caregiver to his mother and father.
“After caring for them and being out of the workforce for a long period of time, I said, ‘Now what do I do?’” Jones recalled. “How do I make a living in the arts, in theatre or in television news in Central Ohio?”
He worked a variety of part-time jobs – all the while longing to return to what he loved: Theatre.
At the same time that Jones returned to his hometown, Ƶ Lancaster’s Theatre Program went dark following the death of Jeff Wagner, a professor who served as the director of the program for approximately 30 years. The theatre’s sets were dismantled, materials were donated to local schools and spaces were repurposed.
Recalling the fond memories he had of the theatre program, Jones penned a letter to the campus’ interim associate dean in early 2010, pleading his case for the program’s return and writing, “I think I’m the perfect person to rejuvenate and revitalize the theatre program at the Lancaster Campus.”
His timing was perfect as campus administrators had been discussing reinstating the program. In March 2010, Jones was hired to teach one theatre class and, in the process, began rebuilding the program. One theatre class turned into eight, and talent shows evolved into large theatrical productions.
In his second year at the Lancaster Campus, Jones approached administrators with a bold idea and another dream – staging a production during the annual .
The administrators signed off on Jones’ proposal, and Ƶ Lancaster’s Theatre Program produced its first musical at the Lancaster Festival that summer. That production grew over the years to become the program’s annual community theatre performance and the featured event on the first Sunday of the annual 11-day festival. According to Jones, over the past seven years, more than 12,000 people have attended the community theatre performance.
Ƶ Lancaster Theatre’s 2019 community theatre production, “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” directed by Victor Jones, debuts July 21 and runs through Aug. 4 in the campus’ Wagner Theatre.
Today, the Ƶ Lancaster Theatre Program is a robust academic program that annually stages three theatrical productions featuring OHIO students during the academic year and one community production, featuring both students and area residents, that debuts during the Lancaster Festival. The July 21 opening of “Legally Blonde: The Musical” kicks off a yearlong celebration of the program’s 10th anniversary. Details will be posted here.
“And it all started as a dream,” Jones said of the program’s rebirth.
It’s a dream come true, not only for Jones but for the numerous students and community members who have found a sense of belonging and an opportunity to pursue their theatrical aspirations inside the campus’ Wagner Theatre.
Jennifer Myers is one of those in