Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Tim Gallagher received the 2018 Pearlstine Excellence in Teaching Award from Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Victoria Bastecki-Perez. Photo by David DeBalko
When Tim Gallagher, assistant professor of Theatre Arts, talks about receiving Montgomery County Community College鈥檚 2018 Pearlstine Excellence in Teaching Award, he opens with a joke about mistaken identity, then follows quickly with heartfelt, introspective comments.
Gallagher doesn鈥檛 think of himself as an award-winning teacher, because sharing the passion he has for the theater is just what he does naturally. He calls the recognition 鈥渉umbling.鈥�
鈥淲inning this award reminded me of why I do what I do. I鈥檓 grateful for the award and grateful I get to have this amazing, rewarding job,鈥� Gallagher says.
鈥淢y teaching is not about me. It鈥檚 always been about the students and perhaps that is what was being recognized,鈥� he adds.
And where does that leave him? What鈥檚 next?
鈥淩etirement?鈥� he asks, back to joking mode. 鈥淪eriously, we have a lot of work to do yet here, and I鈥檒l only be done when I feel as if I don鈥檛 have anything more to give to this program. It鈥檚 so good to be able to keep doing it.鈥�
In the beginning鈥�
Gallagher did not initially aspire to be a teacher. He struggled in college at first due to a lack of direction and was ready to quit, but he was encouraged by his oldest brother to give it one more semester and to find something he liked and get involved.
When a friend dared him to audition for the musical that year at Shippensburg University, where he was majoring in Radio and Television Journalism, he did.
鈥淚 got a really good part鈥攕hockingly. Seriously, I didn鈥檛 know what I was doing,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd it changed my life.鈥�
The new focus gave him direction, and he threw his energies into his minor, Theater. He spent a lot of time in the scenic shop and worked as a carpenter and welder as a graduate assistant.
鈥淚 owe so much to my mentors at Shippensburg鈥擠r. Paul Leitner and Professor Paris Peet,鈥� Gallagher says. 鈥淭hey not only guided me through my academic career but also helped shape me into the mentor I am today.鈥�
鈥淎ll this work helped to inform my acting and directing because you have to have an intimate knowledge of every aspect of theater. Your job is to assemble a group of creative artists and keep them all on the same page, working in a collaborative way, and you can鈥檛 come at it from just one perspective.
鈥淚 have done everything you can do in the theater, except design costumes鈥攁lthough I did work in a costume shop! That鈥檚 critical to being the best director you can be and the best collaborative artist you can be,鈥� he says.
Graduate school at Oklahoma State University came next, where he earned an M.A. in Theatre with a concentration in Directing. He found his first professional job with The Lost Colony in North Carolina. After working with other theater groups around the country, he landed at the Delaware Theatre Company, in Wilmington, Del., where he met his wife, Sarah, an actress and playwright and now a high school English teacher. Along the way, he continued to learn and hone the craft he has shared with Montco students since 2001.
The full experience
Gallagher鈥檚 guiding principle is to give students the full theatrical experience. Everyone who joins the Theatre Arts Program learns to build scenery, work backstage and do other behind-the-scenes work as well as act and direct.
His teaching and directing inform each other; each is about collaborating, not dictating. Ideas and concepts are brainstormed and shared for every new project, following sometimes different and unusual paths that may not have been envisioned before.
Last year鈥檚 production of 鈥淭he Visit鈥� by Friederich D眉rrenmatt, for example, a play with dark, comedic undertones, ended up being produced using puppets鈥攏ot an intuitive direction in which to go.
鈥淎s I researched the play and the playwright, it became clear that puppetry would be an effective way to give the message,鈥� Gallagher remembers. 鈥淚 asked the class, 鈥楶uppets?鈥� and they ran with it, doing the research and design work.鈥�
鈥淭he actors got to breathe life into the puppets,鈥� says Davon Johnson, a theatre arts major, who was a set designer on the production and also acted the role of the teacher. 鈥淚 appreciated the art and got to focus and notice different things. Dealing with puppets was a different ball game and felt funny at first, but really worked and was interesting.鈥�
It鈥檚 all about teamwork
鈥淩eal collaboration is people having different ideas and having to hash them out,鈥� Gallagher says. 鈥淚 love working with creative people and having my ideas changed鈥攊t happens every day. I don鈥檛 lecture or deliver content. That鈥檚 not appealing and not effective. I ask them, 鈥楬ow are WE going to discover this or figure out the process,鈥� whatever it is.鈥�
Gallagher says that it鈥檚 freeing as a teacher to let the walls down and admit that you don鈥檛 know everything.
鈥淚 learn a lot from my students every single day,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be false with students, and true collaboration is born from admitting that you don鈥檛 know it all.鈥�
He adds that he always tries to treat everyone in the classroom as equals in everything he does, offer them choices and empower them to take ownership of their education and each project.
Johnson, 24, will graduate in December 2018 with a degree in theatre arts. He came to Montco originally in 2012 for engineering, but stopped to work for awhile. He returned when he realized he wanted to be an entertainer, and then he met Gallagher.
鈥淭im has opened my eyes to acting and creating as part of a whole and helped motivate me,鈥� says Johnson, who worked as an intern in the Cultural Affairs Department, helping behind the scenes during concerts presented as part of Montco鈥檚 Lively Arts Series.
During Johnson鈥檚 last semester, he will intern with Theatre Horizon in Norristown as a production assistant.
鈥淢y perspective changed when I met Tim. I was never very good at school, but he鈥檚 been a good mentor, and I have been really focused here,鈥� he says.
Gallagher鈥檚 humble nature notwithstanding, his students know how much he deserved the Pearlstine Award.
鈥淭he award was well-deserved. I鈥檝e never seen anyone work harder than Tim and he is always pleasant. He teaches you about theater and life and is always there for you if you need him,鈥� Johnson says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 an excellent teacher, mentor and person and deserves all the accolades and praise that he gets.鈥�