New this year to Sherwood, Julian Lazarus has dedicated 25 years to teaching theatre across many different schools, including Wootton and Linganore High schools, Towson University, and UMBC. His extensive experience has shaped him into a passionate teacher, devoted to providing students with opportunities to express themselves on stage.

Currently, as the director of the theatre program, Lazarus oversees the enchanted edition of Cinderella for the fall musical. After holding auditions for the new fall musical, he was pleasantly surprised by the number of talented students and outstanding voices. “There are some really fantastic voices in the building, like a lot of them,” said Lazarus.

He aims for the production to be a fun and interactive atmosphere where both performers and audience can enjoy the show.“I would love for it to have a fun energy throughout it, almost like a Disney animated movie coming to life. I want to have little kids waving light-up wands, and I want everyone to be clapping and cheering, and I want the performers to be proud that they did a good job.” said Lazarus.

As much as Lazarus enjoys teaching high school students, it’s often difficult to juggle his many tasks. In professional theatre, everything is its own job: directing, creating sets, lighting, sound plot, and costume design are all worked on individually by different people. However, as a high school theatre director, all of these jobs merge into one. Therefore, Lazarus has appreciated the help he’s received from music teachers Emily Chu and Alex Silverbook. “Ms. Chu and Mr. Silverbook have been wonderful, and everyone has been really great towards me,” said Lazarus.

Even though Lazarus enjoys his job as a teacher, he still misses his days working on Broadway. His journey in professional theater began at TADA Children’s Theatre in Manhattan, one of the most famous children’s theatres in the country. While working at TADA, Lazarus discovered his fondness for working with young audiences, leading his focus from professional theatre to teaching.

His experiences on Broadway not only honed his skills but also taught him the value of kindness. Working in such a small industry where everyone knows everyone, people are  held to a very high standard.“Always be kind because it’s a very small industry. When you get up to that top level, you’re talking about 1,200-1,500 hundred people, which is smaller than Sherwood. So everybody knows everybody, or you know of someone. And if you’re not kind, and you’re not doing the things you’re saying you will do, people will find out,” said Lazarus.

Lazarus has taught all over the world, including Ireland and London. His experiences there greatly impacted his style as a teacher and director, and he adopted a process-over-product approach to learning and theatre, aiming for high-quality productions. In his experiences of American theatre traditionally incorporates much more of a product over process approach. These experiences have shaped him into the passionate and hardworking person he is today.