Horizons Fall 2015

23 NSU HORIZONS “Back in my day, there wasn’t even a space to practice. I remember rehears- ing outside with the planes flying overhead,” said Butler. Still, students were encouraged by the bustle of work underway on the program’s eventual home in the Don Taft University Center, which now houses two theaters, classrooms, and other facilities. The lessons that Butler learned grounded her eventual choice in a theatrical career, includ- ing two years teaching youngsters around the country through the Missoula Children’s Theatre. But the experience was just as profound for Kon- stantine (Kosta) Lagos, a theatre minor who graduated in 2014 with a D.M.D. from NSU’s College of Dental Medicine. “In general, I’m an introvert, but somehow [the theatre program] developed this extroverted personality in me when I’m in front of a crowd. It definitely gives you a confidence in being able to com- municate,” Lagos said. Currently in a dentistry residency in New York City, Lagos finds “it’s very important to learn how to com- municate with different kinds of patients, to keep a light tone.” Lagos, who still hopes to act, recalled the life-changing chance to star in NSU’s production of Dead Man Walking . “My family flew in from all over the country to see me,’’ he said. “It was a huge deal for everyone. I remember being part of something bigger.” It’s far more than learning how to act, said Mariah Busk, a senior majoring in theatre. “Communication skills, organizational skills, leadership skills, learning how to work with different types of people, and seeing what makes some people react a certain way, learning how to talk to people,” she said. Appearing in a play about female soldiers, A Piece of My Heart , “I learned more about the Vietnam War by being in a play than reading about it a textbook,” she said.