The lights are dimmed. The stage is set. A hush falls over the house as they prepare to experience the lives of the characters.

On Dec. 1 and 2, BV West’s repertory theatre held its production of A Thousand Clowns by Herb Gardner. The show follows the lives an out-of-work comedy writer, Murray Burns, portrayed by senior Michael Zipse, and his niece, Nick, played by sophomore Kyra Winslett. While living his eccentric lifestyle, Murray is faced with losing custody over Nick when social workers show up to the untraditional home.

“Murray has to reform his ways a little bit to keep the people that he loves in his life,” director of the show and BV West senior Alex Leondedis said.

After directing a show last year for the regular repertory class, Leondedis wanted to direct again before graduating.

“I wanted to do something that I had read before and something that I cared and felt passionate about,” Leondedis said. “After reading the first sentence I thought [the play] was going to be horrible, but I read it and I fell in love with it, and I knew this was the thing I needed to do.”

Being a director comes with a lot of responsibility, especially with a smaller production cast and crew.

“I had help, but I still stayed after and built the set,” Leondedis said. “And I’ve been working on props and costumes. So compared to a lot of directors that I know who just direct and have people who do the other stuff, in this setting it’s more all encompassing.”

With this high amount of responsibility, there are perks that come along with this leadership role.

“Directing in general is a fascinating process,” Leondedis said. “You get to be inside the heads of all the characters instead of just one. And it’s all about creating the world of the show and building pictures that compliment what is going on in the characters’ minds.”

Besides directing at BV West, this past fall, Leondedis got involved as an intern in a community theatre in which he shadowed a director. Because of his involvement in directing shows in different settings, Leondedis has developed an inclination towards becoming a director.

“With proper college education on directing, I would love to do this again in the future,” he said.

Besides directing this show, Leondedis raised money for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) organization for his Jaguar Pride Coalition (JPCo) medallion project. Each year, every senior JPCo member is encouraged to come up with an event that strengthens the BV West community. CASA is a national association that works to provide representatives for children that are going through foster care or custody issues. While the show is not just about social work, it has parts that correlate with the goals of this organization.

“CASA representatives go in and interact with the child and bolster good relationships, when maybe not all of the relationships with the adults in their lives are positive,” Leondedis said. “It does a lot of tangible good in a system that can go either way.”

Leondedis raised money through the show’s ticket sales and selling of red clown noses for $1. He worked alongside Katherine Harris, BV West’s social worker and former clown, in order to make this medallion project a success and to give back to the CASA group that does so many beneficial things for children in the area. Over the course of both nights, Leondedis raised $165 for CASA.

All in all, Leondedis has learned a lot through this whole production process.

“It’s a wonderful process to have free reign to create and bring your vision forward,” Leondedis said. “And I learned more about what CASA does and how monetary donations can impact lives all around the area. It’s just been a phenomenal time to work with the thing I love to do and to help out some people in an organization that I love and believe in.”

If you are interested in learning more about CASA go to http://www.casaforchildren.org.