About Theater
The Ames High School theater program provides performance and technical theatre experience for students in grades 9-12. The AHS Performing Arts Center is located inside the main entrance to the school and offers state-of-the-art performance and technical opportunities. Theater has many opportunities for student performers and technicians in grades 9-12. A play is produced each fall and spring. The winter musical is always a favorite and all productions are open to students in grades 9-12. Through theater, students can further refine their performance and technical skills. AHS Theater has been a long tradition. Students who participate in theater gain the skills to act and perform as an ensemble, get the encouragement to build their self-confidence, all an inclusive environment that is welcoming for everyone.
2023 Spring Play – Spy School
“Spy School” is a play set in 1961. Teenager Jane Doe is recruited by the CIA to become a secret agent. Her job is to go undercover in an American high school to find a Russian spy who is planning to send classified information about the space program to the USSR. However, being undercover is not easy, especially when her fake family includes a seductive “mom,” a middle-aged “little brother,” and a conceited “dad.” On top of that, she must deal with annoying classmates, a sexist curriculum, and the dreaded prom. This mission may be impossible.
2023 Big Fish – Musical
“Big Fish” is a musical based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Daniel Wallace and the 2003 Tim Burton film adaptation. The story revolves around Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman who loves to tell tall tales about his extraordinary life. His son, Will, who has always struggled to understand his father, decides to unravel the truth behind the stories. As Edward’s health begins to decline, Will attempts to reconcile with him and understand the meaning behind the fantastical stories.
Cast, crew and pit orchestra list2022 Fall Play – Trap
An incomprehensible event: every person in the audience of a high school play falls unconscious–every person but one. Using interviews with witnesses, loved ones, first responders, and the investigators pursuing the case, a theatre ensemble brings the story of the strange event to life, documentary-style. But as the strands weave together into an increasingly dangerous web, it becomes clear that this phenomenon might not be entirely in the past. Unnerving, exhilarating, and wildly inventive, you’ve never walked into anything quite like Trap.
Cast list