LEXINGTON, Va. May 2, 2023 — Tori Wright ’24 was looking for anything to escape COVID-19 on post as a rat. The catch — there were not a lot of activities for rats to join due to the amount of work that was required of them in the Rat Line. Nevertheless, Virginia Military Institute’s Cadet Theatre was one she could.  

“My experiences with the theater were just always amazing. It was like this little safe place away from barracks,” she said. “It was honestly like a second home, so I kind of just stayed year after year.” 

With about four performances a year, the club is a little different than others offered on post. It’s technically two entities — the VMI Theatre and the VMI Community Theatre. Both involve cadets, but the community program wrangles in local participants when it’s tough to fill out a production. Cadet-in-charge Matthew Frazier ’23 said that usually happens for the holiday and summer productions, mainly because cadets have left to go home.  

Wright has been a key player in leading the summer sessions of theater for the past few years, something she says is a little bit more relaxed than when school is in session. She prefaces that it’s still very much a military school activity, but it’s different because they’re all in civilian clothes and can interact with the community on a personal level.  

“It’s a lot more relaxed. There’s a lot more time,” she said. 

Frazier said overall, VMI Theatre is a good escape for cadets — a point that Wright agreed with.  

“Because we’re here at VMI, it’s such a militaristic environment,” Wright said. “Even in classes, in other clubs, things like that, t’s very rigidly structured. There’s a set time, a set place, a set way of doing everything. But theater is so much more flexible.” 

The flexibility is in the creative freedom you get with performing or changing up a few props.  

“The general environment is so much more relaxed,” she said. “It’s a good way — especially during the Rat Line — of escaping to a much friendlier place.” 

Byron Rivey ’26 has been involved with theater since a young age. The first show he can remember being in was in sixth grade doing a rendition of “Beauty and the Beast.” 

“Ever since I can remember I was hooked,” he said.  

With the pandemic, he drifted from theater.  

“A distance grew between my fellow castmates,” he said. “This distance forced me to quit theater in high school. However, this year was the first time on stage for a while. My biggest supporter was my dyke, Ted Harris ’23, who is also in theater.” 

Both Frazier and Harris recently completed their last performance with VMI Theatre, performing “The Odd Couple.” A bittersweet exit, the two both said the club provided a place of refuge for them — something Rivey said as well.  

“Clubs like theater allow cadets and rats to escape from the daily stresses and portray a different person,” Rivey said. “Daily stresses include academic or Rat Line stresses. It also allows you to meet cadets from different companies.” 

VMI Theatre is in its 53rd consecutive year, according to director Joellen Bland. She’s been the director since 1982.  

“I have hundreds of treasured memories … but the thrill of seeing cadets blossom and grow on a stage before a live audience, and seeing the flush of pride on their faces when applause surrounds them, and their high-fives when they unwind after a performance is worth every moment of doing theater at VMI,” she said.  

Bland said she doesn’t view VMI Theatre as a club but as more than that.  

“Even though we have never had a venue to truly call our own, and even though there is no theater course or major at VMI, and even though cadets do theater by choice and not by academic requirement, we are alive and continuing to struggle to stay alive at VMI today,” she said. 

Working with cadets is an adventure, she said, considering how many different directions they’re pulled in on a daily basis.  

“Doing theater is not like anything else they might tackle,” she said. “Auditions, rehearsals, learning lines-cues-entrances-and-exits for performances, set-building, prop-gathering, costume assembling, publicity selecting, etcetera, etcetera, are all part of getting a show together and performing it for the public. And guess what? All of this has absolutely nothing to do with handling a ball of any kind.” 

Colin J.M. Nicassio ’26 started acting on a whim with a production during his senior year of high school. After enrolling at VMI, he started getting emails about different activities and saw there was a summer theater — something that would be perfect for him while enrolled in VMI’s Summer Transition Program.  

“Being in theater at VMI is a very unique experience in the fact that few know about the program, and even fewer participate,” he said. “It is a small crew of 10 or so familiar faces that show up when their schedules allow them to and memorize their lines the day before opening night. It’s a challenge to be in the shows, but as Joellen always says, ‘Somehow, some way, we will do it because we’ve done it before.’” 

Nicassio said that VMI Theatre is crucial for the image of the Institute and also for breaking up the monotony of cadet life. 

“Perceptions are hard to change and improve, even when they should be. To the common person, activities like this or any of the things that go on around post are hard to portray to someone who is not in the system because of the overshadowing of those giant tan walls that encompass all of cadet life as many people think,” he said. “There should be a strong emphasis on these extracurricular activities at VMI because they’re much more than a time commitment, they’re a haven from the day-to-day monotony of life. It’s these cracks and holes in the image of the Institute that really help cadets stay engaged and strong at the Institute.” 

He said that activities like theater need to be emphasized at VMI.  

“Not only is this a military institute, but it is for developing leaders to grow and develop as characters themselves. That is what theater is all about. It’s about making friends backstage and working together to achieve a common goal that many others can enjoy. 

There is no point in making a show if there is nobody to watch it,” he said. 

Laura Peters Shapiro 
Photos by Kelly Nye and H. Lockwood McLaughlin 
Communications & Marketing 
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE