The Company That Never Stops Performing

For generations of students, Company has never simply been about putting on a play.

 

It has been a place where students discover confidence, creativity, belonging, leadership, and community. It has been a place where students who may not always fit into traditional high school molds find a home. And for Stephen Bennett DLS ’07, Artistic Director of Company, and Michelle Koski CHS ’98, Company’s Costumes, Props, and Makeup Supervisor, who now help lead the program at De La Salle and Carondelet, Company became something even more lasting: the foundation for their careers, lifelong friendships, and the work they continue to dedicate themselves to every day. 

 

Both Michelle and Stephen first arrived at Company almost by accident.

 

For Michelle, it began as a freshman when a friend dragged her to auditions for the musical South Pacific. At the time, she had never worked in theater before and had only participated in show choir. “I’m not auditioning,” she remembered thinking as she sat in the back of the theater watching her friend.

 

But in true Company fashion, another student approached her and encouraged her to sign up for a crew. Michelle chose props because it seemed like the least intimidating option. Before long, she found herself working backstage on South Pacific, which also happened to celebrate longtime director Patty Stauch’s 25th musical production at De La Salle.

For Stephen, theater began even earlier. Inspired by a middle school drama teacher who introduced him to plays and performance, he auditioned for productions throughout high school before finally landing a major role in Hello, Dolly! during his sophomore year.

“I had the time of my life,” he said. “It changed everything I thought about what I wanted to do.” Neither of them fully realized at the time how significant Company would eventually become in their lives.

For Michelle, Company ultimately shaped her educational and career path. Unsure of what she wanted to do after graduation, she initially planned to attend community college before transferring elsewhere. But after applying to Notre Dame De Namur University, a small four-year school almost on a whim, she found herself walking into another converted auditorium theater space that immediately felt familiar. “Walking into that theater building felt like coming home to Company,” she said. 

She eventually studied theater and computer science before later earning a master’s degree in library science, balancing practical career goals with her continuing love for theater.

Stephen’s path was equally shaped by Company. He entered the University of Portland, already committed to theater and eventually pursued graduate studies through the Tisch musical theater writing program. But even as he built a career in education and theater, the influence of Company remained central. “The experience here set the direction for life,” he said.

Yet while theater itself became important, both Michelle and Stephen emphasize that Company offered far more than performance training. What stayed with them most was the sense of community and belonging.

For Stephen, Company created space for students who did not always fit neatly into the expectations of a highly competitive high school environment. “It was okay to be nontraditional,” he said. “A safe space to be at a school that’s so athletics-focused and academics-focused and really focus on something that is nerdy.”

Michelle experienced something similar through costume work and design.“Being able to take pride in a skill that, in a lot of other ways, was undervalued,” she said. “There was a community there.” That sense of shared purpose remains one of the defining characteristics of Company today.

Unlike many high school theater programs where adults handle much of the technical and production work, students in Company are deeply involved in every aspect of the process. Students design sets, create costumes, run crews, manage productions, and contribute creatively from the earliest stages of development.

“It doesn’t work without any one less of us,” Michelle explained. “You can’t do the show without lights. You can’t do lights without sound. You can’t do a show without actors. You can’t have scenes without people moving stuff on and off.”

For Stephen, that philosophy teaches students something larger than theater itself.“Being a cog in this type of machine matters,” he said. That shared ownership creates an environment where students learn leadership, collaboration, communication, and responsibility in ways that extend far beyond the stage.

“It takes all these different parts to make the thing happen,” Michelle said. “And being able to take that and apply it in our lives anywhere you go.” Those lessons became especially important when both eventually returned to the program as adults.

Michelle came back during a particularly transitional moment following Patty Stauch’s departure from the program. Students were struggling with the change in leadership, and the future of Company itself felt uncertain.“I came back to make sure that existed,” Michelle said.

She initially returned to help provide supervision and continuity during the transition before eventually becoming deeply involved in rebuilding and strengthening the program.

Stephen’s return came from a different direction. After years of teaching math while simultaneously running theater programs with limited resources and support, he saw an opportunity to focus fully on theater education at De La Salle.

“I was looking for a way to do it well,” he said. “And I heard about this opening, and I thought, ‘I know that program.’” Returning as alumni carried special meaning for both of them. “We got a lot out of this program,” Michelle said. “So we want to make sure other students get that, if not more.” Today, that mission shapes nearly everything they do.

The modern version of Company is intentionally more collaborative and student-driven than the one they experienced as students themselves. While previous generations often relied heavily on adult direction and decision-making, Michelle and Stephen now work to bring students directly into the creative process from the beginning.

Students help discuss and pitch productions. They participate in design meetings. They contribute artistic ideas early in development rather than simply carrying out instructions later. “We’re trying to model the real world experience,” Michelle explained.

Stephen describes the process as intentionally creating opportunities for students to develop agency and ownership. “We’re actively always talking about building and offering and inviting the kids,” he said. “We try not to be like, ‘This is how it must be.’”

That collaborative approach also creates stronger mentoring relationships between adults and students than what either Michelle or Stephen experienced in earlier years. The result is a program where students are not simply participants, but contributors and leaders.

Again and again, Michelle and Stephen point to individual students whose growth reminds them why the work matters.

They describe students discovering talents they never knew they had. Quiet students stepping into major roles. Designers creating remarkable scenic elements. Crew members becoming indispensable leaders behind the scenes. Students who struggled to find connection elsewhere discovering confidence and purpose through Company. “Never found a home until they found Company,” Michelle said of some students.

Others balance athletics, academics, and theater simultaneously, proving there is no single type of student who belongs in the program. “You have rugby kids who come back to Company because it fills their soul,” Stephen said with a laugh. That diversity of experiences is part of what continues to draw students to the program year after year.

For some, Company is a chance to reinvent themselves during high school. For others, it is the continuation of years of theater experience. Some arrive cautiously. Others arrive all-in from the beginning.

But what keeps them there is the same thing that kept Michelle and Stephen there years earlier: the people.“The community, the collaboration, working together,” Stephen said. “That’s what inspires people and makes them stay.”

That sense of community becomes especially visible during productions, trips, and performances. Michelle laughs at the concern some people express about traveling with large groups of theater students. Instead, they are often the students entertaining crowds with impromptu performances, supporting one another backstage, or enthusiastically diving into creative work together. “The enthusiasm they have is huge,” Stephen said. “It’s pretty wonderful and unique.”

Even as the program has evolved over decades, Michelle and Stephen believe its core identity has remained remarkably consistent. “The energy is very similar,” Michelle said.

There have been changes in leadership styles, rehearsal approaches, and production structures over the years. Each director brought different strengths and creative priorities. But the central spirit of Company, the excitement of creating theater together and caring deeply about the people involved, has endured. “We do good theater, and we care about it,” Stephen said. “And that turns into caring about each other.”

That spirit now extends not only to the students, but to the adult leadership team itself. Michelle, Stephen, and their colleagues operate collaboratively, leaning on one another’s strengths while modeling teamwork for students in the process.

“Sometimes we have to admit, ‘I can’t do that,’” Michelle said. “And sometimes we stretch outside our areas. It’s always a learning experience for us and for the students.” That humility and collaboration mirror the lessons they hope students ultimately carry with them long after graduation.

When asked what they hope Company alumni remember 10 or 20 years from now, both return to the same themes: community, collaboration, and the understanding that every person matters.

“Being an integral piece in that community,” Stephen said. For Michelle, the lessons extend far beyond theater itself. “These are life skills,” she said. “Anywhere you go, you have to work with other people.”

In today’s world, she noted, educators increasingly refer to communication, professionalism, responsibility, and collaboration not as “soft skills,” but as “durable skills”, abilities that remain valuable throughout every stage of life and career. Those are exactly the kinds of skills Company quietly develops every day.

But perhaps the most lasting impact of the program is harder to define.

It is the feeling students get when they walk into the theater and know they belong. It is the confidence that comes from contributing something meaningful to a shared goal. It is the realization that creativity, individuality, and passion have value. And it is the understanding that theater is never really just about theater.

For Michelle Koski and Stephen Bennett, Company shaped their lives as students. Now, years later, they continue working to ensure future generations of De La Salle and Carondelet students experience that same sense of purpose, creativity, and belonging.

Because at its heart, Company has always been about more than the performance on stage. It has always been about the people who create it together.