NEMCC Theatre Director to present "Cahokia: North America's First City"

by Michael H. Miller

Booneville, Miss. -- (01/13/2023) — Northeast Mississippi Community College's theatre director is branching out and traveling back in time with his latest presentation to the college's employees, students, and community members.

Christopher Schager of Oxford will present Cahokia: North America's First City on Tuesday, January 17, at 7 p.m. in the Hines Hall Auditorium on the college's Booneville campus.

Schager, who has been the college's theatre director for over 20 years, has dedicated more than three decades to studying Native Americans and those who inhabited the land long before Christopher Columbus claimed to discover it in 1492.

Schager's interest in Native American culture comes from his studies of the Lakota Sioux located in the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Ghost Dance Religion. Schager's examination of Cahokia began in the last year.

Schager's presentation will focus on Mississippi Chiefdoms who inhabited the lands of the North American continent, their lifestyles and how they had a sustainable culture that thrived in the Mississippi River Valley.

When not researching Native Americans and their ways of life, Schager has performed in or directed over 250 theatrical shows. These performances include local, national, and international presentations, including the University of Mississippi's Opera Theatre Ensemble's world premiere of Hamlet as the Player King, where the veteran educator picked up his international acting credits when he, along with the Moravian Philharmonic, traveled across the pond to Europe, where they performed their show in places such as Prague, Czech Republic.

Schager gained new experiences with the performance, where he got to sing as part of the cast and taught opera singers how to fight and die on stage in a manner to keep their notes and rhythms while falling to the ground.

During his time at Northeast, Schager has taught Acting, Voice and Diction, Movement for the Actor, Fundamentals of Theatre, Stagecraft and Building, Stage Make-up, Theatre Appreciation and Public Speaking. Schager additionally instructs Drama Production I-IV and Musical Theatre Workshops I-IV.

Schager has been a pivotal member of the college's Cultural Arts Committee, helping to bring thought-provoking and educational performances to the college, such as the musical HMS Pinafore musical and The Galileo Project in the early 2000s.

Schager founded the O'Connor Theatre Project in 1996 to help pushed creative plays, performances, and alternative theatre.

Schager has shown his comedic side in performances and helped the improvisational comedy and sketch troupe "The Hooligans" win first place at the University of Virginia's Comedy Soup Festival.

Schager, a two-time Humanities Teacher of the Year for the college, earned the Lamplighter Award for teaching in 2004. He was named an Outstanding Teaching Performance (TOP) award honoree for his instruction in the classroom a year later.

Schager earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from San Francisco State University in 1991 and a master's degree in theatre from the University of Mississippi in 1996.

In 2001, Mississippi State University awarded Schager 18 hours of graduate credit in communication. He also holds a state-wide teaching credential and secondary and gifted education certifications. Before coming to Northeast, Schager clocked time at Oxford High School and Oxford Middle School as the theatre instructor and a speech instructor at the high school.

Active in the Oxford area, Schager has dedicated his time to Youth Musical Theatre Workshop at the University of Mississippi for more than 20 years. The veteran thespian has served as a theatre instructor for the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council for its program "Dramatic Expressions," and has even helped as a theatre instructor for the Mississippi Humanities Council for the "Real Time Players," an at-risk summer camp.

Schager has also been an improvisation instructor with the Oxford Park Commission, the co-founder and artistic director for Theatre Oxford and a graduate assistant instructor and acting class coordinator at the University of Mississippi.

Schager served as an adjunct stage combat instructor for the University of Mississippi from 2007-2011 and has qualified with five weapons and his recommendation certification with honors from the Society of American Fight Directors in hand-to-hand combat, rapier/dagger, quarterstaff, small sword, and broadsword.

In the early 2000s, Schager was the fight instructor for Summerfest in Birmingham, Alabama.

Schager has sought to increase his knowledge of theatric performances across the nation and produced and directed Hungry, a performance by Oxford playwright George Kehoe at the New York International Fringe Festival.

Lastly, he has served as chair of the University and College division for the Mississippi Theatre Association, a board member for the Mississippi Dance Association and and a board member for the Festival of Southern Theatre.

--NEMCC--

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