Most students in theater chase the spotlight. Coppell High School junior Georgia Reynolds runs the show from behind it.
For the second straight year, Reynolds is Coppell’s only state qualifier in the UIL Theatrical Design competition. But her path to that title began long before high school.
After joining a drama club at age 8, she acted throughout middle school and continued into high school. But as the anxiety of performing began outweighing the enjoyment, she found herself drawn to the backstage instead. In her sophomore year, she gave up acting to focus solely on technical theater.
“I miss certain parts of acting,” Reynolds said. “But the anxiety got in the way. It stopped being enjoyable. I realized I was better at tech than acting in sophomore year, so I switched.”
Now, Reynolds holds two major roles in the Cowboy Theatre Company: stage manager and marketing designer.
As a stage manager, she coordinates lighting, sound and set changes, and handles all the paperwork and attendance, making her crucial to a show. She managed this fall’s production of “Our Town,” her first full-length show.
“It was the first time for a lot of things,” Reynolds said. “It was the first show of the season, my first stage management of a full production and my first time working with new directors. But I pushed through and learned that I could handle more than I think I can.”
For the spring musical “Matilda,” Reynolds took on a more visual role. As a marketing designer, she created posters and online campaigns to promote the show. The role blended her passion for design with her background in fine arts. Her mother, CHS9 art teacher Elsa Reynolds, helped shape her love for creativity early on.
“We were always doing arts and crafts and hands-on activities,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “She has a good eye for what looks good. When she started working on her designs, I wasn’t surprised that she instinctively knew how to create something interesting.”
That instinct for visual storytelling helped Georgia qualify for state this year in UIL Theatrical Design. Competing in the marketing category, she had to create a complete campaign — poster, program, social media and educational event — to promote “Axoloris: The Musical.”
As the play explores environmental themes, Georgia drew inspiration from Gonzalo Álvarez, an artist aiming to educate kids about environmental issues.
“I was fourth place last year, so my goal is third place this year,” Georgia said. “I set the bar high a little bit too early, so now I need to make sure I go above that bar.”
Georgia sees her work as essential, even if it is not center stage.
“What you see on stage is just the tip of the iceberg,” Georgia said. “You don’t see the designers redesigning their work, the construction workers building the sets or the stage managers with their giant binders trying to organize paperwork. You just see the end production. I wish people knew all the hard work that goes into it.”
That hard work and dedication has not gone unnoticed, however.
“She helped change the direction our department was headed,” head theater director Glenn Price said. “She led them through a very hard transitional period and helped create a successful production.”
Her marketing partner for “Matilda,” junior Anshika Arora, echoes that sentiment.
“She’s always positive, always smiling,” Arora said. “Even at one in the morning, she helped me edit a picture for social media. She’d never act like I’m dragging her behind and she’d always be ready to help.”
Though she doesn’t plan to pursue theater professionally, Georgia is taking the skills she’s learned into her dream career: advertising and visual communications. She hopes to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design — the same school where both her parents studied and first met.
“Acting helped me come out of my shell and tech theater helped me develop organization and leadership skills,” Georgia said. “Theater has really influenced what I want to do in the future, so I guess I am taking a piece of theater with me.”
Even if Reynolds is not the one in the spotlight, her work ensures the stage is ready for someone else to shine — and that, she has learned, is just as rewarding.
Follow @CHSCampusNews on X.
