"We will miss Red Lion Theater"

The famous ‘Thiegs-era’ of the musical program comes to a close after a recent decision both Eric and Rebecca Thiegs have made.

By Whitney Johnson
Staff Writer

Red Lion has had a great reputation when it comes to their musical, and besides the cast itself the people behind the magic have announced they are retiring from directing the musicals.

For the past 11 years, Eric and Rebecca Thiegs have been putting together the shows and helping Red Lion win numerous Rosie awards in the past. In fact, their production of Bye, Bye Birdie won almost half of the awards that were given out.

It all began with South Pacific their first year and both agree that, “[It] was a huge highlight because it was our first and it actually all came together.” The couple has done a variety of shows ranging from High School Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, Grease, Beauty and the Beast and so much more.

The Thiegs have decided to remove themselves from the program because it is a very time consuming job they do every year.

It averages around 28,000 to 35,000 dollars each year, a large amount of rehearsals and planning for just one weekend of shows. They try to go above and beyond each year to keep the shows as good as the last or better. “It became more and more difficult to maintain the integrity of the program we build at Red Lion,” both said.

Both of them have separate jobs and two little girls to raise and said, “We always end up feeling like our energies were so divided during musical season and we knew it was time for a change. It’s time to turn it over to someone who can put even more time, energy and passion into the program than we can.”


"I am most proud of how our shows brought together the entire community. Their love and support of each other and us will never be forgotten.”    
                                                                                                                                 -Mrs. Rebecca Thiegs

Needless to say, it will not be easy for them to leave it to someone else, and both agreed that there are so many memories from all the shows with the different casts and performances that it is hard to narrow down to the best one.

“I am really most proud that we had the opportunity to work with such amazing students. We would cry during every show at least once because of our pride watching the students on stage during the performances,” Eric said.

As emotional as this will be for many upcoming students and alumni the Theigs concluded their journey with one simple sentence, “We will miss Red Lion Theater.”

Follow up: Mr. Thiegs has recently accepted a position to be the senior vice president of  
National Gift Card Corporation in Chicago. The position will allow him to work from home.

In addition to leaving the musical program with her husband, Mrs. Thiegs has additionally 
announced her resignation as an English teacher in the high school.

She will be taking a position for Stage of Life, the businesses she and her husband co-founded, 
as a full time education consultant.

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