In Alumni the Classroom Spotlight
Lessons Learned as a Tatnall “Theater Kid”
Lauren Lovet ’89
Lauren Lovett’s favorite time of day on the Tatnall campus was actually night, when the world was tucked in all quiet and still.
a couple, but they made a great couple. They had a team approach and a shared vision; you never saw them argue. It was a great model for us as kids.”
“Like every kid, there were times during the day when I didn’t feel in harmony with the school, but there was room for me there at night,” recalls the 1989 grad. “I remember it feeling so safe and magical.”
“This wasn’t a high school hobby for them, they had talent and they nurtured the talent of their actors and crew,” Lovett says. “It was clear they knew more than you, but they always treated you like an artist and like someone who had something to give and something to say. I was a professional actor for years, and I can tell you that’s really unique.”
Lovett got to experience that magic because she was a self-described “theatre kid” who spent countless hours rehearsing in the old theater building after school. She came to Tatnall in fifth grade with an already-established passion for acting. “I visited other schools but at Tatnall there was a stronger sense of humanity… it felt like a community to me,” she says. “And even though Tatnall leaned conservative like a lot of private schools, it also fostered and encouraged my creative side, especially when I got to high school.” Beginning in ninth grade, Lovett began landing lead roles in Tatnall’s spring musicals and fall plays. The plays were part of the school’s advanced theater class called Showcase (“With a capital S,” Lovett says with a laugh). “The Matchmaker”, “The Good Doctor”, “The Miracle Worker”, and the female version of “The Odd Couple” are ingrained in her memory. Dr. Bruce Chipman, then Head of English and Director of Showcase, and Assistant Director Rosemary Crawford left an indelible impression on Lovett. “Dr. Chipman was both exacting and loving, a big personality and a powerful presence…he was like your theater uncle,” she says. “Rosemary, who passed away in 2013, was gentle and would pull you aside to make suggestions. They weren’t
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They were also very good directors.
After graduation, Lovett would go on to earn a BFA at the Juilliard School and then spend the next two decades working as an actor in regional theater around the country. Life eventually carried her to Los Angeles and today she owns Speak Well, a thriving consultancy that has her helping actors and business professionals refine and revitalize their overall presence, including the way they speak, what they’re saying, and their intended outcome. In 2019, Lovett was one of nine former students invited to return to Tatnall to honor Dr. Chipman upon his retirement from Showcase Director after 47-years (he maintains his position as Emeritus Head of English). While she has never tried to follow his lead as a director, the lessons Lovett learned as a “theatre kid” at Tatnall still echo in her head. “My experience in Showcase wasn’t just, ‘You’re going to do what I say.’ It was more like, ‘How are we going to tell this story together,’” she explains. “That’s the philosophy I have with all of my clients. I know what I’m doing and I’m going to help you, but you are a very important partner in I visited other schools this relationship. The trust and respect but at Tatnall there was Dr. Chipman and a stronger sense of Rosemary had in humanity… it felt like a us as students and artists is the same community to me. approach I use when I teach today.”
