VCS Theatre Arts Production of 'The Crucible' Adds Veteran Actor to Cast of Phenomenal Student Talent

Village Christian Theatre Arts has established an award-winning standard over the last decade, and this fall, it begins another exciting chapter with its 2022-2023 production of “The Crucible” in the Auditorium.

Under the leadership of new Theatre Arts Director Dan Roche, the show will not only feature a phenomenal cast of students, it will also welcome a longtime acting veteran that can currently be found on the VCS baseball diamond – second-year head coach Evan O’Meara.

We connected with Roche and O’Meara during rehearsals to discuss the show and O’Meara’s exciting return to the stage:

DAN ROCHE: We had a very lively audition process for “The Crucible”—so many talented students. However, when all was done, we needed one more male actor, but it needed to be someone with a sense of authority and gravity to play the role of Judge Hawthorne. I thought it might be cool to have a faculty member play the role. John Khouri was the first one I asked just because I think he's a great guy. And he said to me, “Dan, do you know we have an actor right here on our faculty with many years of experience?” And when he told me who, I realized I already knew Evan, but I had no idea about his acting background. So I got in touch right away.

EVAN O’MEARA: On or about the same dates “The Crucible” will be performed marks exactly 50 years since I first performed on stage in a show. That experience in high school sparked a 30-year career on stage and in front of a camera. I hold a Masters of Fine Arts in acting from Southern Methodist University, and I spent six years in New York as a working actor before moving to Los Angeles.

ROCHE: The moment Coach O'Meara joined our rehearsals, I was so grateful because the students got to hear immediately the kind of voice work I've been instructing them in. It's a hard play with poetic, heightened language; the characters’ heightened way of speaking is part of their world, which is a very different world from the one we now live in. Evan is helping the younger actors grasp on to that way of speaking.

O’MEARA: I am truly honored to be working with this cast of young performers, and with Dan, to bring to life one of the most important works by one of the most important playwrights of the 20th century. I am completely blessed by this experience.

ROCHE: I think everyone who sees “The Crucible” will see an exciting and compelling story told by an incredible combination of the most talented students at VCS and a super amazing baseball coach/actor!

O’MEARA: It's interesting to note, as a result of an athletic injury in high school, I had my first opportunity to perform in musical theater 50 years ago. And all these years later, as a result of something to do with athletics, I'm having an opportunity to come full circle.

Don’t miss VCS Theatre Arts’ production of “The Crucible” in the Auditorium November 4-13.

Click here to purchase your tickets now!