College of Piping will offer theatre program after taking over Spotlight School of Arts

The College of Piping in Summerside, P.E.I., is getting a new program this fall. The Spotlight School of Arts will become part of the college and offer a theatre arts program in September.

The Spotlight School of Arts has changed a lot to get to this point, said Reasha Walsh, the school's executive director.

This fall, her title will change.

"I will be the theatre arts program manager at the College of Piping," Walsh said.

Non-profit status

In May of 2010 Walsh created the Spotlight Theatre Company, which eventually became the arts school. The company continued to grow and Walsh was teaching all of the courses, she said. As the company continued to add students, instructors were hired and Walsh turned it into a non-profit in 2017.

It's rare a theatre program gets to take lessons and actually rehearse and practise right on a theatre stage.- Reasha Walsh, Spotlight School of Arts

"Now we are onto our next step," Walsh said.

"A little bit of a change for the company itself, but myself and staff will be going to work for the College of Piping to develop and continue the development of our theatre arts program."

Walsh and another instructor will work full time with the college, other instructors will work on contract.

College is a good fit

Walsh thinks the College of Piping is a good fit, they were there for the arts school when it lost its space recently, she said.

"And when we got in there it kind of made sense. They just built a brand new beautiful facility."

We really want to make sure that our students, anything didn't change for them right now. We finish out our season, they get their year-end show.— Reasha Walsh, Spotlight School of Arts

There is a theatre area with 300 seats, which is ideal for the theatre program. The facility alone will have a big impact, Walsh said.

"It's rare that a theatre program gets to take lessons and actually rehearse and practise right on a theatre stage."

It also offers the ability to expand programs and put on more shows, Walsh said.

No summer programs this year

Usually the Spotlight School of Arts offers summer programs to those interested in learning theatre, but this year those won't be offered.

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to run those summer programs just because the transition needs time."

The plan is to bring them back in 2020 and offer more programs than past years, Walsh said.

Spotlight will be in operation until the end of June and currently has 160 students.

"We really want to make sure that our students, anything didn't change for them right now. We finish out our season, they get their year-end show on June 15," Walsh said.

"Then over the summer we will transition and we will go to work for the college."

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