Life under the lights

After years of performing, teaching, traveling and raising two sons, Janet Bliss Sager is at it again, directing "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Shawnee Playhouse.

Following her interest in ballet and earning three degrees from the University of Washington, Sager made her way from her hometown of Seattle to Montana to New York City, where she was hired in the first national tour of the Broadway musical in 1982.

She began as Mrs. Potiphar's understudy, assistant stage manager and as a swing, which required her to memorize all the female roles for the show.

A year later, Sager found herself on Broadway as a vacation replacement for the same production, and was dance captain for the Bus & Truck tour.

By 1986, she was just getting started, and headed to Chicago and Michigan with her husband and 2-week-old son to be production stage manager for, you guessed it, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

Years of traveling led Sager and her husband, Joel, to look for a place to settle down. That place happened to be Jim Thorpe.

"It was affordable at the time, and we could still get to the city," she said.

Although Sager's focus was on raising her sons, she opened a studio in Lansford, offering classes with an emphasis in musical theater.

"I started as a dancer, then singing, then acting. To me, musical theater is all three rolled into one, and that's the best," she said.

After 26 years in Jim Thorpe, the Sagers built an apartment attached to the studio, and made Lansford their new home in 2013.

While she experienced a setback a few years prior when she injured her hip, she underwent surgery, and found herself at the Shawnee Playhouse where she costumed a few shows and directed "Del Valle Divas."

When it came time for the playhouse to plan its production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," Sager's history with the show was appealing, to say the least.

"They didn't have anyone assigned for that show ... They had seen that I had done it a number of times. At that point, they had asked if I would do it," she said.

The drive from Lansford to the playhouse made Sager hesitate to accept the position, but she took it anyway.

Her familiarity with the show paid off. She juggled three positions, serving as director, choreographer and costume designer.

For Sager, it's always been important to expose young people to musical theater.

"Shawnee is trying to keep theater alive. It's historic," she said. "If you don't create a love for it in children or young people, then they're not going to have the memories of it," she said.

Part of what drives Sager is her desire for arts education to be valued by school districts.

"I would hate to see it disappear," she said. "It's all getting cut."

While she has spent a great deal of her life exposing her students to the arts, she looks forward to more down time.

When asked what she plans to do in the future, she delivers her response with a grin. "Nothing! I want to put that plant in out front," she said of the garden outside her studio.

"Clean the floors. Play with my granddaughter."

She does plan to do a few shows here and there, but she doesn't know where or when that will be.

Anyone would think that life under the lights would be hectic, but for Sager, show business has become integral.

"I've done it all my life. It's just part of who I am."

Shawnee Playhouse is located in Shawnee on Delaware.

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" will run through Aug. 23.

For more information call the box office at 570-421-5093 or visit www.theshawneeplayhouse.com.