EVERETT – When the stage lights go up tonight at Evergreen Middle School, Louise Uriu will be one of the parents in the audience watching the school’s production of the musical “School House Rock.”
She’ll applaud and cheer along with the other moms who have kids in the play. But as Uriu sits in the dark, she’ll softly hum along with all the songs, anticipate the punchlines and hold her breath during the inevitable weak parts of the show.
This is the sixth musical Uriu has helped to produce at Evergreen. She and other parent volunteers, including Gale Gruza, Debra Draper and Kim Neff, have devoted months of each school year to the plays, which have included scaled-down versions of “Annie,” “The Music Man” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Asked several years ago by Principal Joyce Stewart to consider staging a play, Uriu, of Everett, got busy in a hurry. Uriu brought along a friend, Deborah Swanby, who was hired to direct the plays. Uriu then made calls, delegated tasks, sold tickets, printed posters, borrowed spotlights and generally created a flurry of interest and activity.
“Yeah,” Uriu said with a laugh, “I’m a volunteer vortex. If you hang around me long enough, you’ll get sucked in. And some, like the drama parents, go all the way down.”
The “drama parents” have made Stewart’s dream of a middle school theater program a reality.
“Louise does whatever it takes to make sure kids shine in these programs,” the principal said. “The other parents are watching her. She sets the pace.”
Along with her volunteer play-producer job at Evergreen, Uriu is co-chairwoman of the middle school carnival and the volunteer coordinator for the Reflections school arts program.
She also is the PTA Council president for the Everett School District and the volunteer coordinator at Everett High School, where she is active in the band booster club.
In her spare time, she is the secretary of an Everett neighborhood association, and she sings and plays bass in the Seattle Jazz Singers.
“I use a Palm Pilot. I’ve already worn out two of them,” Uriu said, shaking her head.
Uriu got her start in performance production at Mountlake Terrace High School and Edmonds Community College, where she belonged to vocal and instrumental music groups and helped stage events. She picked up her organizational skills as a buyer for Jamco, a Boeing supplier, where she met her husband, Daisuke Uriu.
When their daughter, Ayana, now 16, was born, Louise Uriu made the choice to be a stay-at-home mother for as long as she could. She found satisfaction in the classrooms and PTA meetings at View Ridge Elementary School, where Ayana and her brother, Keenan, now 14, went to school.
“It’s hard for working parents to find the time, but if you can, it’s worth volunteering in the schools. You’re in close proximity to teachers, school counselors and your kids’ friends. It gets you so much information,” she said.
The highlight of her volunteer work has been the school plays at Evergreen Middle School, she said.
“Drama is underfunded and doesn’t have that same value in the community as sports or even music,” Uriu said. “But all of our plays have been successful, and the community is more supportive with each production.”
Among the volunteers helping with the current show are several high school students who enjoyed their time in the Evergreen Middle School drama program so much that they have returned to lend a hand, Uriu said.
“The middle school students have a lot of fun. They step up to the plate, work hard as a team and form friendships,” she said. “By the time the last show is over and the lights go down on Saturday, they feel a real sense of accomplishment.”
Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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