The theater career of 25-year-old Scott Schag began roughly 15 years prior, with a note written by his younger self to the high school drama director that read something like, “Hi, my name is Scott and I’m in elementary school, if you do shows, I’d love to be in one.”
It was not until he was a sophomore at Temple Christian School that Schag got his first taste of being on stage in an obscure political play called “The Girls in 509.” After his second role as “Gaston” in “Beauty and the Beast” he was hooked, and 32 shows later Schag already feels like a theater veteran at a young age – albeit, a veteran who says he still gets nervous at every audition.
“I hate auditioning,” he said with a laugh. “I get terrified every single time, like my pits are sweaty. It’s nasty.”
Schag has performed mostly in shows at The Renaissance Theater and with the theater program at The Ohio State University Mansfield, but he’s also performed at the Mansfield Playhouse and Malabar Farm. His favorite roles include the whimsical “Cat in the Hat” in “Seussical The Musical,” the nerdy “Seymour” in “Little Shop of Horrors,” and the cynical “Jamie” in “Long Day’s Journey into Night.”
However, the role Schag plays most often is that of substitute teacher. After earning his Masters degree in Elementary Education from Ohio State Mansfield, Schag teaches mostly pre-K to third grade students all around Richland County but mostly at Madison, Shelby and Richland Academy. Singing and theatrics are a common theme in Schag’s classrooms.
“My students probably know me as the crazy, tall, singing teacher,” said Schag. “The little kids love it and they participate. I did have a long-term substitute position in seventh and eighth grade … they didn’t appreciate the theater as much but I still made them do it.”
Rather than trying to divide his two worlds, Schag makes it a point to integrate theater into his teaching career.
“I actually did my thesis on bringing theater into classrooms, so I try not to separate them if I can,” said Schag. “I did my student teaching at Mifflin so that’s when I had to make lessons with a bunch of theater.”
A typical day for Schag involves about 50 percent teaching and 50 percent theater; after teaching he takes voice lessons and most recently dance lessons in the evenings. However, when cast in a show, his days become much busier.
“When I’m doing a show, oh that’s death,” said Schag. “Being a substitute is nice because I don’t have to prepare lesson plans, so I waltz in and teach what they have. So it’s easier, but it is tiring to go from teaching all day and then rehearsal for four hours.”
Often times during a show Schag can be found studying his script in-between teaching. Sometimes the roles Schag plays help him enhance his teaching career but other times he said it’s hard to separate the character from the teacher, such as during his role as “Jamie” in “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” He explained his character was a tormented alcoholic whose mother is a drug addict.
“It was weird doing rehearsals for that because you go to such a dark place during rehearsals because he’s such a bitter guy, so I’d come out and try to teach the next day and I’d still be depressed,” said Schag. “Which is nice that the kids bring happiness back.”
Local theater may not have Scott Schag around much longer. Currently, he is working on updating his resume before moving to New York City in June.
“My older brother is out there; he teaches at the Manhattan School of Music so he’s a nice connection,” said Schag. “My parents aren’t as leery about me going out there when my family is out there. And I’ve visited a ton.”
Schag plans on using his education degree to continue substitute teaching in New York City, but said he views his degree as a backup plan to his first dream of acting.
“I’m going to go up there and give it a good go, and if I don’t see it working out then I’ll switch to education, but I’m going to pursue it as hard as I can,” he said. “I would never be happy if I didn’t try to do this or do theater, so that’s kind of my driving force behind it. It’s a fulfillment of a dream for me, one I’ve had since I was little.”
Long days of teaching, rehearsals, voice lessons and studying lines have not deterred Schag from following his acting dreams. He explained he is currently reading a book that posed the question, “Should you pursue this career?”
“I go back to that question I really like. If you didn’t do this, would you be as happy? And if you can’t answer yes, then do it,” said Schag. “Why deprive yourself of something that’s so cool and so wonderful? It gets you out of yourself. I love it.”
Schag will be appearing next in the role of Inspector Kemp/Victor/The Hermit in the upcoming production of “Young Frankenstein: The New Mel Brooks Musical” at The Renaissance Theatre on April 4, 5 and 6.
Actors and actresses are mostly thought of as celebrities living extravagant lifestyles in major metropolises, unaware of a simpler existence and unattainable to the common person.
In Mansfield, local actors and actresses are writing your news, teaching your children or simply passing you on the street. Richland Source takes a look inside the lives of local theater contributors who are our neighbors by day and actors by night.
