Director's Welcome

I welcome you to the award-winning Olympic Heights Theatre Department! 

       I am very excited to be serving as the Performing & Fine Arts Chair as well as teaching and directing here at OHCHS for the 17th year in a row as the students and staff are truly the best. A double graduate of Florida Atlantic University, I have earned Bachelor of the Arts degrees in both Theatre Performance and Media Studies. I have been a Cast Member for the Entertainment Department at the Walt Disney World Resort, and I have directed multiple South Florida productions at New Theatre, Center Stage, Rising Starz, and Showtime Theatre. Previously, I have been a teacher for the theatre department at A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts where I accepted wonderful opportunities to direct both the black light show and the Cappie Award winning spring mainstage, Neil Simon’s 45 Seconds from Broadway. Most recently, I have had the honor to be selected as the William T. Dwyer Award winner for Excellence in High School Education. I was able to celebrate on stage at The Kravis Center which felt very full circle. I have directed, performed, produced, publicized, and stage managed all over South Florida, but nothing gives me more joy than to be able to teach what I am most passionate about – theatre. 

After the incredible success this year at the District X Thespian Competition (Critic's Choice, District Rep Alternate, etc.)  and Florida State Thespian Festival (Straight Superiors), I am thrilled to announce all of the wonderful events that Troupe 4992 has in store for the upcoming year. 

       Olympic Heights Theatre is proud to offer an array of courses ranging from beginning level performance and tech all the way to Musical Theatre. I am excited to announce the Advanced Theatre courses will be producing 12 Angry Jurors by Reginald Rose W and Musical Theatre will take on the vocally challenging musicals, Songs for a New World written and composed by Jason Robert Brown.

       The Advanced Theatre class is proud to announce their upcoming production of 12 Angry Jurors. 12 Angry Jurors (originally titled 12 Angry Men) is

a high-stakes courtroom drama that focuses on the deliberations of a jury following a homicide trial. The play takes place entirely within a small, sweltering jury room in New York City. The Advanced Theatre I, II, III, IV acting class will be producing, performing, and teching this challenging piece.

Performance Dates: October 2nd – 5th, 2026.

       The advanced Musical Theatre class will be performing the adventurous Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown! Songs for a New World is a 1995 Off-Broadway musical that explores life, love, and pivotal, often difficult, choices through a collection of powerful standalone, musical numbers. It is not a linear play, but a themed revue often described as a theatrical song cycle focusing on moments of decision and transformation.

Performance Dates:  February 19th – 22nd, 2027.

       I have chosen this season because of the numerous intellectual and physical challenges that it will allow our students to overcome and ultimately grow from. It is my goal to explore these circumstances through mature performance and discussion. I strongly believe that students will best come to understand the concepts behind this season through a safe, artistic medium. Above all, art should be educational and challenging, and I am proud to say that we have some very mature students that are willing to take on such strong pieces.

       In addition, Troupe 4992 will be able to take part in many other showcases such as The Mane Event, Dessert Theatre, District Competition & Showcase, The Florida State Thespian Festival, International Thespian Honor Society, and so much more! From being our District X Representative multiple times, to the great honor of main-staging Lost in Yonkers, Black Comedy and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and our Critic’s Choice winning one-acts Elephant’s Graveyard and Black Comedy at the Thespian Festival, to our many Cappies, Critics Choice awards, and Superiors, we are humbled by these numerous honors and look forward to an exciting future!

       To be involved with the arts is a great honor that requires a kind of determination that is hard to come by. It is often a trying profession that consists of numerous critiques, long days that turn into nights, and auditions that end with “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” -and that is if you are lucky. Nevertheless, after much hard work and continuous drive, a playwright is given a pen, a director is handed a script, an actor takes the stage, and instantly the struggle is forgotten. This madcap case of amnesia is able to occur due to the indescribable feeling an artist gets when given the chance to hone his craft. The artist’s love of theatre creates a world in which any hardship is only a means to an end and is always worth it. 

       The OHCHS Theatre department has come a long way in the past years, and I am confident in saying that this year will be one of the best by far. I am proud to say that we have built this program into one of the finest in South Florida. This department has put the OH name back on the South Florida theatre circuit with its awesome performances of Almost, Maine, The Addams Family, Into the Woods, Blithe Spirit, Mamma Mia!, Wild Party, A Chorus Line, Gypsy, Picnic, The Drowsy Chaperone, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Boeing! Boeing!, Pippin, August: Osage County, A Streetcar Named Desire, Avenue Q, 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, Next to Normal, Anything Goes, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, RENT, Lend Me a Tenor, Little Shop of Horrors, Alice in Wonderland, 9 to 5 and the Critic’s Choice award winning one-acts, Black Comedy and Elephant’s Graveyard, and the Florida State Thespian selected Lost in Yonkers, Black Comedy, Almost, Maine, Chicago and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. These students have proven that they are not afraid of hard work and have turned this department into a family. 

       I encourage you to spend this year and the lifetime that follows- absorbing absolutely everything you possibly can. It will be challenging, but I promise that you will be far better off in the end whether you choose theatre as your life's work or not.

       Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about our department or your student’s participation and/or progress. I look forward to getting to know you. Let’s have a wonderful year!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kimberly Coyle

Chair of Performing & Fine Arts Department

Kimberly.Coyle@palmbeachschools.org

Cast of Macbeth 2025

Cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee 2026