Mr. Roeckers has been working at Cotter for 33 years, and directing musicals for 15 years. He has always been involved in musicals, starting in second grade when he was the Little Drummer Boy in the Christmas pageant.
Growing up he always loved being in musicals. His older brother also liked doing musicals. His favorite show he has ever been in is The Wizard of Oz, where he played the Cowardly Lion, and Little Shop of Horrors in which he was cast as Seymour.
When he first started to teach at Cotter he helped with the stage crew for musicals. He mainly built sets, until the director of the musicals stopped showing up. The choir director, Cathy Snyder, had to take over for the director’s spot, leaving Mr. Roeckers in charge of staging the show. Staging the show meant he would start to work with the actors. Years later, when Mrs. Snyder was getting close to retiring, he became the head director of Cotter’s musicals.
His first musical he directed was Seussical the Musical. You may notice if you have been in Mr. Roecker’s math room, he has all of his posters up from his shows. He started this tradition because that’s what his director did when he was in high school. “So at my house, I have my four posters from my four shows, with all the cast signatures on them,” Mr. Roeckers said.
When choosing a musical he needs to think about all of the factors that go into a good show. He has to think of costumes, how many people are going to participate in the show on a given year and how difficult the sets are to make. He has always wanted to do a Disney show, but he says the costumes would be hard and expensive to make. One of the shows he was considering for this year was The Little Mermaid.
He loves directing musicals, but also enjoys being an actor, because he only has to work with his part. He is thinking of doing one this summer.
Mr. Roeckers is looked up to by many students from Cotter and people in the community. The Winona community usually can count on him to act in their musicals, or play piano for their events. We are so excited to see what he comes up with, for his new musical Little Shop of Horrors.
