The flexibility and creative freedom of Lebanon Valley College’s English Department allowed Chiara Meyers ’22 to explore every avenue of interest she could, leading to her current position at the historic Hershey Theatre.

Coming into LVC, Meyers said she was heavily focused on the English rhetoric side of her degree but had spent most of her secondary education on the stage and wanted to stay connected to those roots.

“LVC offered me the opportunity to add a musical theatre minor and pursue a theatre concentration through the English Department,” Meyers said.

LVC English faculty take the time to get to know their students so that they can assist in pulling their outside interests into class papers or projects, and many of the English students—through careful advising—can complete double or triple majors alongside other minors and concentrations. By the time she graduated, Meyers had completed an English and creative writing double major with a minor in history and musical theatre, and concentrations in theatre and literature.

“It helped that our department has smaller class sizes, too,” Meyers said. “You felt like you really had a connection with the professors. They took the time to get to know me as a student rather than just a number.”

With the support of her professors, Meyers was encouraged to continue exploring her love for the theatrical arts, whether through writing a one-act play in a scriptwriting workshop or acting and directing with Wig and Buckle, LVC’s student-run theatre company. Meyers directed Almost Maine and Bonnie and Clyde and acted in productions of MacBeth, Godspell, Noises Off, and others.

Eventually, what began as an extracurricular in middle school soon became Meyers’ full-time passion as an education assistant tasked with planning this year’s famed Apollo Awards, an annual award ceremony for high school theater programs—something Meyers herself once participated in while in high school.

Thanks to her experience in LVC’s English and Creative Writing programs, Meyers feels better connected to her work and can put more of herself into the process. She also plans to keep spreading her wings down different avenues, continuing to work with the Apollo Awards while pursuing writing, directing, and acting opportunities.

Meyers reconnected with her LVC theatre friends for the LVC Music Department’s production of “On The Town.” She served as an assistant choreographer for the show in April 2023 at the Hershey Area Playhouse.

By Angelica Fraine ’23, LVC Marketing & Communications Intern