Ask anyone who went to Sartell Middle School about Mr. Cicharz, and more often than not they have a story to tell about him or his classroom.
After over 25 years of teaching in Sartell, Cicharz has grown a reputation for his lively class, energetic personality, and his passion for the arts. After retiring from teaching in 2020, he has kept as busy as ever. As his latest directorial endeavor recently came to an overwhelmingly successful close, I decided it would be a great opportunity to sit down one on one with an exclusive interview with Sartell’s very own, Rick Cicharz.
Q. You retired in 2020, how has that been going for you?
“It’s going very well. It was hard because when I left teaching, we didn’t have the opportunity to say goodbye because everyone was isolated from Covid. I took the first year of retirement and just kind of did some things I wanted to do. One of my bucket list things was taking a Christmas Carol, and adapting it to a play. I took that year and did that.”
Q. I’m assuming the theater has still taken a lot of your time, but is there anything non-theater related that you’ve been up to?
“Last year was our first year to really travel. We plan on doing a lot more this year. We spent a month down in Texas. It was really nice to be running around with shorts and t-shirts in the winter.”
I sat down with Cicharz Tuesday, September 26th. That previous Sunday was the close of the GREAT Theatre show Guys and Dolls, which had Cicharz in the director’s chair for the first time since working in the middle school. I was interested in his creative process, and wanted to ask about the show through his perspective.
“That was a lot of fun. I wanted to do an old fashioned musical. We started working on it last January, and got it really rolling in March. We auditioned in June, and just finished up here last weekend.”
Q. How is the process of directing adults in a GREAT Theatre play different from directing middle schoolers? Any challenges, or anything found to be surprisingly easy?
“It’s funny, there’s really not much difference between middle schoolers and adults. Adults learn a lot faster and tend to pay a little bit better attention. It’s actually the same process of building a team, building a community, and trying to do the best show you can.”
Q. Is there anything you learned from this show or any experience that made this show stand out from others?
“All shows offer something to learn from, and I think this show in particular, the comedy had to be dissected and laid out in a way the audience could understand it, and the actors could understand it to play off each other. Comedy is really tough to perform and to get it at its finest takes lots and lots of practice. You don’t know until you have an audience how they’re going to respond to it.”
Q. How has working at Sartell affected your work flow, and how have you been able to take your 21 years of teaching and apply that into Guys and Dolls?
“Even though it was with adults, I think working in middle school taught me how to really break things down to the basic levels, and to build back up from there. A lot of people in this production, this was their first show even though they’re 40 years old. Breaking things down to their simplest form, helping all the actors feel comfortable and build their confidence. That’s what middle school teaching helped me with the most.”
Q. My grade, the 2024 senior year is the last year that has had Mr. Cicharz all four years teaching. Is there anything you would like anyone from the school to hear from you?
“The most important thing as you graduate and go on is, continue to put your buns on the line, as you all should remember is a famous quote from my classroom. Continue to take risks, push yourself, do what you can, follow your heart, and just have fun. Build those relationships with each other, and I think Covid affected all of us in the fact we all isolated, so don’t be afraid to get out there and try new things, and go for it.”
Q. The fall play is coming up, is there anything you would like to say to anyone involved in the theater program here?
“I said this back in the middle school often, the theater program is one place that needs everybody. Everyone plays an important role to pull this off. I’m real excited to come see Clue, seeing everybody in there, and seeing how far they progressed from middle school, not only as actors but as all stage production people. I also would like to put a plug in for the children’s show the high school is taking on, ‘Elephant and Piggie’s We Are in a Play!’ That’s something I always wanted to do in the middle school was get a children’s program going, so the actors could go into the elementary schools and get that experience, but of course being the only person in middle school theater I just didn’t have time, so when Ms. Killmer said she was doing that this year, I’m jumping on board helping with props and backstage things to get that off the ground. I’m really excited for that show and for the actors involved.”
Even as Cicharz closes out the chapter of his life spent teaching in Sartell, he still remains just as busy, and dedicated to the arts. While he may not be roaming the halls of Sartell, bringing an aura of cheerfulness wherever he was, and making a priority to connect with every student that walks into his classroom lines wall to wall with creativity, he still stays active in the Sartell theater community, ensuring an extra pair of hard working hands if they’re needed. When it comes to the things he’s passionate about, he always makes sure to keep his buns on the line.
