Philosophy
Teaching Life Skills through Stage Skills
Expression, focus, spontaneity and presence skills lead to success on stage.
Confidence, discipline, integrity and teamwork skills lead to success in life.

History
In 12 years, the training program of the State Theatre of Georgia has sold out every summer session, growing from 200 students to more than 500. The Springer Academy's success has been a catalyst for the performing arts boom in the Columbus area, providing well-trained, highly-motivated students and valuable educational resources to boost theatre and music programs in schools, colleges and churches throughout the region.

Faculty
Our Staff of professional actors, directors, theatre teachers and technicians are highly skilled at what they do, offering students the best training available in the Southeast. But they are also people who care deeply about young people and are passionately committed to sharing with them the joy and craft of theatre.

Productions
Our students have been featured in all Springer Children's Theatre productions, including Amazing Grace, Alice in Wonderland, Oliviatown, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Sarah Plain and Tall, Charlotte's Web, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer, Winnie the Pooh, James and the Giant Peach, A Thousand Cranes and Bridge to Terabithia, as well as Springer Mainstage productions of The King and I, A Christmas Carol, The Member of the Wedding, Annie, Peter Pan, The Diary of Anne Frank, Guys and Dolls, Romeo and Juliet, Seussical, Camelot and Ragtime.

Academy Director
Ron Anderson, Academy Founder and Director, has been a professional actor, director and theatre teacher for almost 30 years. Among Ron's Springer directing credits are The Diary of Anne Frank, Man of La Mancha, Jekyll & Hyde, Phantom, The Crucible, My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music plus most of the Springer Children's Theatre shows, including Oliviatown, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer and Alice in Wonderland (all of which he authored). Ron has played featured roles in A Tuna Christmas, The Odd Couple, On Golden Pond, Romeo and Juliet, Cotton Patch Gospel, Macbeth, The Foreigner and Of Mice and Men.

Academy Namesake
Dorothy W. "Dot" McClure, long-time theatre educator and namesake of the Dorothy W. McClure Springer Theatre Academy, is part of the heroic group of local arts patrons who saved the Springer from the wrecking ball in the 1960s. Dot and her co-visionaries restored the Springer to Victorian splendor and propelled it forward to become the State Theatre of Georgia, a national historic landmark and a regional center for excellence in theatre production and education.

Springer Theatre Academy acknowledges generous support from the McClure Family Foundation, the J.W. & Ethel I. Woodruff Foundation, Columbus Cultural Arts Alliance, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and Georgia Council for the Arts.