Elizabeth Ordeman to bring to the excitement of acting and theatre to Scorpion students
From watching Broadway shows as a child to running church performances to teaching young students, acting has always greatly impacted Texas Southmost College faculty Elizabeth ‘Libby’ Ordeman’s life.
After being around acting for most of her life, she will bring the joy of theatre to Texas Southmost College starting in the Fall 2023.
“I had the fortune to grow up outside New York City,” Oredman said. “My parents took us to Broadway at a young age. The excitement of theatre is comparable to being in a band or choir, but it’s for people with a different art.”
The classes will begin at TSC in the Fall. Students can sign up and register beginning on April 3. Courses offered include Theater Practicum (DRAM 1120), Theater Appreciation (DRAM 1310), Acting I (DRAM 1351), and Acting II (1352).
She explained the underlying benefit of empathy and creativity when students could act in a role different from their day-to-day life.
“Acting brings out an artistic value where you become someone else for just a short while, and you take on their persona, and you begin to understand other people,” she said. “It can give you all sorts of confidence. You can take a relatively shy person and put them on the stage, and suddenly they are bursting with confidence and self-awareness.”
Gabriel Picazo serves as the Audio-Visual Production Manager at Texas Southmost College. He grew up around the Ordeman family, including Elizabeth, who led Easter and Christmas plays at a local church.
“For those who know Mrs. Ordeman from the community, I can’t think of a better fit to start these classes at TSC,” Picazo said. “She is very professional in everything she does and very knowledgeable. Our students are going to get a lot out of her experience.”
Picazo mentioned that performing arts are a welcome addition to the college.
“On another note, it is great to see TSC focusing on the arts,” he said. “As the person who oversees Texas Southmost College’s Performing Arts Center, whenever there is a group of students, they always ask what arts we offer at the college, so it’s special to see these classes become available.”
These four classes are vital to the student body because they present a new opportunity to express creativity and appreciate an essential medium of art, culture, and communication.
“It’s good for kids in STEM fields also to know that there is an artsy side to them that may not be music or drawing,” said Ordeman. “It’s good that TSC will begin to branch out to the arts. I feel that it brings balance to an architecture or math student. There are no pre-requisites. If a student wants to come out of their shell and be a little bolder, this would be the class to do it.”
When asked if students would get to perform or learn in a classroom, Ordeman smiled and revealed only parts of her plan to bring performances to stages across TSC, such as the SET-B Lecture Hall or even the Performing Arts Center.
“What’s the fun in rehearsing if you don’t get to perform?” she joked.
Students can see which classes will be available in the Fall when registration opens on April 3.
Follow this link for more information.
