When Lauren Franklin became Crispus Attucks High School’s principal about nine years ago, bringing back the once-popular musical theater program was one of her goals. During her first year on the job, Franklin made a curious discovery in the school’s basement.

“There was a closet of old costumes, and I thought, ‘This is so cool. It’s probably from the 1960s when my uncle was here,’” she said. Franklin’s parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles attended Crispus Attucks, and she remembers seeing a yearbook photo of an uncle when he was performing as a student. 

Since opening in 1927, Crispus Attucks has been known for its storied athletic history — its legendary 1955 state championship basketball team, led by Oscar Robertson, is the subject of a new play, “Touch of Glory” – and its progressive academic programs like its new Health Sciences Academy. Last fall, for the first time since about the mid-1980s, the school started offering musical theater as a class. Students will put on their first public performance this spring.

Up until last year, Crispus Attucks was the only IPS high school that didn’t have a theater program, said Traci Prescott, fine arts coordinator for IPS. The new class is part of a district-wide Rebuilding Stronger plan.

Franklin, who went to Broad Ripple High School, started playing the flute in fourth grade, so she knows the value of kids getting interested in music and the performing arts. As principal of Crispus Attucks, she wanted to assemble a team of teachers who could bring back the school’s drama program. 

However, in 2020-2021, COVID-19 put a halt on many extracurricular programs.

“It became important after the pandemic that students have a creative outlet,” Franklin said.

Crispus Attucks’ theater program dates back to at least 1928, when the first annual commencement program highlighted a June production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” But, the program seems to have ended in the mid-1980s, when the school became a middle school and all high school programs were discontinued, according to IPS officials.

A search in the digitized archives for Crispus Attucks’ yearbooks from those decades leads to many examples of now-legendary artists or influential community leaders who identified as members of the school’s drama or music programs, such as world-famous soprano Angela Brown (class of 1982), who played Adelaide in Attucks’ production of “Guys and Dolls,” and David Baker (class of 1949), the composer, musician and conductor who founded the jazz studies program at IU’s Jacobs School of Music and who sneaked into Indiana Avenue jazz clubs as a student at Attucks.

The list goes on: Naptown legend Rodney Stepp (class of 1970), who joined The Spinners in the 1970s and toured globally with them; TV journalist and Emmy-nominated actor Meschach Taylor (class of 1964), who played his most memorable role, Anthony Bouvier, on long-running CBS comedy series “Designing Women”; Taylor Baker (class of 1953), the first Black prosecutor for the City of Indianapolis; and Janet Langhart Cohen (class of 1959), an author and TV journalist who wrote the internationally  acclaimed one-act play “Anne & Emmett.” 

Throughout the decades, drama students performed classic and contemporary theater, from “The Sound of Music” to “Oklahoma,” and in many cases they would write their own materials. One popular school-wide tradition was Tigerama, where all the class levels produced a four-act skit. 

The new musical theater program is helmed by Arterus Young, a recent Ball State University graduate who teaches choir and electronic music; Charla Booth, who retired in 2014 as theater director for Broad Ripple High School and came back to teach in IPS in 2019; and choral teacher Sedalia Brown, who has traveled nationally as a musical theater artist. 

“A lot of what we did was relating it back to how this is a part of school, so you will have to be willing to learn. Whether you want to be on stage or not, you will learn the ability to work with others, communicate, talk, speak in public,” Young said. 

Both Young and Booth knew they would have some challenges: Their students likely didn’t have any musical theater-related training prior to high school, and many were unfamiliar with theater in general. But they learned quickly. Last winter, about 100 students from the band, orchestra, choir and music theater programs came together to present the Crispus Attucks High School Fine Arts Winter Showcase to family and friends.

“Everybody just came together and performed — everybody had been practicing for months,” said junior Camari Todd, who also participates in cheer and dance at school. “And, like, I realized (theater) was for me because I enjoyed it, moving through the backstage, getting dressed and changing into different outfits.” 

Now there is a waiting list for the musical theater class.

“I think once you get involved in theater and discover you have a love and a passion for it, it never goes away,” Booth said. “I don’t think I have to worry about them wanting to continue; I know they will continue.”

In addition to dancing and acting, students are learning the technical aspects of sound and lighting and other parts of theater production so that they can find their niche or try new things. “We support and encourage whatever they want to do,” Booth said. “I have one young lady who just loves organizing costumes. We need those people.” 

The teachers are also looking to provide opportunities for students to see live theater. Many attended a free performance of “The Nutcracker” in Zionsville this past holiday season. Students have also been seeking out recordings of musicals and plays on their own.

Booth and Young agreed that if money was no object, a long-term goal would be a production of “Dreamgirls.”

When “Touch of Glory” opened Feb. 9-11 with free community preview performances at Crispus Attucks High School, audiences saw Attucks alumni on stage. The play — presented by Deborah Asante and Artists and written by Laura Town — also shown Feb. 16-18 during NBA All-Star 2024 weekend. Town did extensive research and interviews with key Attucks figures such as the Crowe family, Bill Hampton, John Gipson, Willie Merriweather and Hallie Bryan. 

At the end of the spring semester, Attucks students will stage their own original show at the school that will be open to the public. They’ll write and perform a 30-minute musical about their experiences in the theater program, and also perform scenes from a yet-to-be-determined dramatic play. Along with Todd, junior August Harris will perform in the show, whose date will be announced later.  

“I’m not a very extroverted person, but when I got into the school theater, I became more confident in myself and making friends,” Harris said. “I liked it. It brought me out of my shell.”