The Creators
Practical Technical Theater was developed by Bob Fowler and Marti Fowler, two career Secondary Theater Educators with 70 years experience in Theater Education and Professional Theater. They know what works in the classroom, the National Standard for the Arts, and what the typical theater student needs to know.
Bob Fowler taught Theater on the secondary level for twenty-nine years, and ran highly successful programs. He was the Missouri Thespians/ Educational Theatre Association Teacher of the Year in 2000-2001, and has presented numerous workshops at the local, state and national level. Bob produced, directed, designed, and/or tech directed 106 plays and musicals during his high school teaching career, and has extensive experience writing curriculum. He has a Bachelor's degree in Education and a Master's degree in Design and Technical Theater from the University of Missouri Columbia. He also has 30 hours of additional graduate credit in the field of education. Bob is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of Missouri - St. Louis.
Since retiring in 2001, Bob has worked freelance in the St. Louis area doing live theatre and television production. In addition to working for Stages St. Louis and the Edison Theater at Washington University, he was been the shop foreman for both the 2002 and 2003 seasons of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival (which draws more than 40,000 people annually to its performances). His acting resume' includes over 50 roles, and he has worked as a professional musician since he was 14 years old. Bob currently has over thirty students who are working professionally doing live theatre, film, television or radio.
Marti Fowler retired in June 2003
as the Fine Arts Consultant for the Hazelwood School District in suburban St. Louis,
MO, where she was a classroom theater teacher for 25 years. She has served
on the MO Thespian Board for 12 years, the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
Friends of Theatre and Dance for 18 years, the MO. Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education Task Force, the St Louis Shakespeare Festival Education
Committee, and the E. Desmond Lee Fine Arts Collaborative. She also has extensive
experience writing curriculum, and has presented numerous workshops on the national,
state, and local level. She is the recipient of the Dina Reece Evans Award from
the Educational Theatre Association and the American Alliance for Theatre and
Education, and the recipient of the 2001 Administrator of the Year Award from
the Mo. State Thespian Association.
Marti has performed in 55 plays and musicals, and has produced, directed, designed, and/or tech directed over 100 plays and musicals during her teaching career. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Theatre and Dance (Performance) and a Masters degree in Directing from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and has 30 additional graduate hours in the field of education.