Student Staff  >

E. Frank Bluestein is the chairman of the Fine Arts Department at Germantown High School. He is founder and director of the school's theatre, the Poplar Pike Playhouse, and also serves as executive producer for the school's two million dollar educational television facility. In 1998, USA Today named Mr. Bluestein as one of the top 40 teachers in the United States. Two years earlier, he was selected as the 1996 Disney and McDonald's Performing Arts Teacher of the Year. In 1994, Mr. Bluestein was chosen to serve as Tennessee's Teacher of the Year. He is a past winner of the American Theatre Association's John C. Barner Award, a national award given to one secondary school teacher whose theatre program is judged most exemplary for the year. Mr. Bluestein has served as an arts advisory panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, the College Board Arts Advisory Committee, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the Tennessee Arts Commission. He is a former president both of the Tennessee Alliance for Arts Education and the Germantown Arts Alliance. Mr. Bluestein supervises the theatre division of the Tennessee Arts Academy, a statewide teacher training institute. He was named to Memphis Magazine's Who's Who in Memphis poll and was presented a community service award for his accomplishments in education by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Under Mr. Bluestein's leadership, the studios of GHS-TV have received 40 first place Hometown Video USA Awards, as well as a Cable Ace Award nomination. In 1984, he helped the Germantown High School Fine Arts Department become one of eight secondary schools in the nation chosen to receive the prestigious Rockefeller Brothers Fund Arts in Education Award. Mr. Bluestein has served as a director of shows at Opryland, USA, and most recently wrote and directed the musical review Beale Street Saturday Night starring blues legend Joyce Cobb. He is a frequent speaker and writer on arts related issues.

Leonid Mazor began his work as a professional theatre director in 1976, when he became the producer and director of the Student Theatre at the Moscow Technology University in Russia. Mr. Mazor has been involved as an actor and director in 50 major television and theatre productions in Russia and America. His credits include assignments as both a director and performer for the popular Russian comedy show Club of Jokers. Mr. Mazor also directed Russian television’s Profitable Place and the nationally televised Miss USSR Contest. He has directed several plays from the classic and modern repertoire of both American and Russian theatres including The Misanthrope, The Glass Menagerie, and The Three Sisters. He directed Anastasia at Theatre Memphis, A Shayna Maidel and Beau Jest at the Memphis Jewish Community Theatre, and The Illusion at McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College. In 1995, Mr. Mazor became a full-time theatre arts instructor at GHS. He has directed PPP’s fall production for the past six years, including All in the Timing, Fools, Rumors, Night Sky, The Imaginary Invalid, Lend Me a Tenor and the American premiere of the Russian fairy tale Twelve Months. He also has served as co-director for The Sound of Music, The Music Man, Pippin, Rags, South Pacific, and Children of Eden.

Germantown High School's film and video teacher, Jeff Capps, is in his fourth year on the Fine Arts Department staff. A 1994 graduate of Germantown High School, Mr. Capps appeared in the PPP productions of Chess, Once on This Island, and Can't Stop Dancin'. He also served as publicity director for the PPP and was general manager of GHS-TV his senior year. Mr. Capps attended the University of Missouri at Columbia, where he received his Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism. He reported and anchored for the NBC affiliate station in Columbia for two years. In his spare time, Mr. Capps enjoys writing and performing music. His band, The Far Criers, is currently at work on two recording projects.

Charles Haraway is completing his fifth year as director for Germantown High School’s award-winning choral music program. He received a B.M.E. in Choral Music Education from the University of Mississippi and an M.M.E. in Choral Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi. Mr. Haraway has been the musical director for PPP productions, Pippin, Rags, South Pacific, and Children of Eden. Prior to coming to Germantown, Mr. Haraway taught choral music at Natchez High School and Columbus High School where his choirs received many superior ratings at various festivals. Some of his other musical directing credits include Oklahoma!, Snoopy, and West Side Story.

While this is his second year on the GHS Fine Arts staff, Ted Horrell is quite familiar with Germantown High School. A 1992 graduate and alumnus of the Fine Arts Department, he went on to receive a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Missouri. After graduation, Mr. Horrell spent a year and a half teaching English in Nagoya, Japan and traveling throughout Asia. Original music by Mr. Horrell was featured in the PPP’s fall production, The Imaginary Invalid. He currently teaches Speech and Introduction to Film and Video.

Though Ashleigh Siegfried Williams is the most recent addition to the Poplar Pike Playhouse faculty, she is no stranger to the Germantown High School Fine Arts Department. She was a familiar face on the PPP stage and in front of the GHS-TV cameras until her graduation in 1994. She performed in Oklahoma!, Chess, Once on This Island and Can't Stop Dancin' and was the lead anchor for Wake Up Germantown!. She earned an undergraduate degree in musical theatre at The University of Tulsa and completed her master of fine arts in acting at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Mrs. Williams has performed in many productions on the collegiate and professional levels including Guys and Dolls, She Loves Me, Oklahoma!, Falsettos and Chicago.

Gail Ridenhour serves the Fine Arts Department in her role as business manager for Germantown Community Television. She is a former president of the Poplar Pike Arts Guild and is currently on the Board of Directors. Mrs. Ridenhour is a member of the English Meadows Garden Club and is a deacon at Kingsway Christian Church. Her two children, Chris and Elizabeth, were both active members of the Germantown Fine Arts Department.

Video Engineer

Glenn Payton is the chief engineer for Germantown Community Television. Mr. Payton hails from Blytheville, Arkansas. He served in the United States Naval Air Force as an aviation electronics technician. Mr. Payton was an air crewman in charge of the electronics system for the P2V Neptune Patrol Aircraft. After completing his service, he worked as a computer field services engineer. Before coming to GHS-TV, Mr. Payton worked locally at WHBQ AM, FM, and TV; WREC AM and FM; WREG TV; and WLMT. He is married and has one son.

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