DIRECTORS
Photo by Alex Crawford of Kristin and Will Butler
Kristin Butler
Kristin has been a theatre arts educator in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools since 2009 and is delighted to continue her legacy teaching at Hillsboro High School. A graduate of the MNPS school district (Glencliff Class of '05), Kristin earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Education from Trevecca Nazarene University where she was immersed in the theatre community as an actor and director. Some of her favorite on stage roles include “Ado Annie” in Oklahoma, “Mother” in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park, and "Lucinda" in Into the Woods. Although she enjoys performing, her real passion is for directing. Since college, she has directed or assistant directed over 30 productions. She proudly serves as the Extended Essay Coordinator and IB Theatre Teacher for the Academy of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for Hillsboro High School and helped write the theatre arts curriculum pacing guide for all theatre arts teachers in MNPS. She teaches the Level-One and Level-Two Theatre Arts classes and the college-level International Baccalaureate Theatre courses, having successfully led her students to earn some of the highest scores in all of the International Baccalaureate courses offered at Hillsboro. In her free, time she enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time with her family especially her son Elliott. She is passionate about giving young people a voice in theatre and was awarded the Metro Nashville Public Schools High School Teacher of the Year award in 2022.
Will Butler
After spending 8 years in the classroom as a theatre educator, Will is now the owner of Butler Scenic Co. LLC and works as a free lance designer and builder. A Nashville native, he graduated from Belmont University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Performance. He was named Circle Players’ 2011-2012 Best Actor for his portrayal of “Eugene” in Brighton Beach Memoirs and ACT 1’s 2012-2013 Most Valuable Player for his work on Broadway Bound. Although Will began his theatrical career on the stage, he has a strong passion for scenic and production design. To that end, he works tirelessly with students all over Nashville to ensure that his students are performing on and building some of the most conceptually strong and detail-oriented sets you will find on high school stages. Some of his favorite set designs include Hairspray (Winner "Best Set"; Nashville High School Musical Theatre Awards), Godspell (Winner "Best Show" and "Best Overall Design Concept"; Nashville High School Musical Theatre Awards). Butler is a Blue Ribbon Teacher recipient and was awarded "Best Direction" at the 2016 Nashville High School Musical Theatre Awards for The Hillsboro Players' production of Godspell and at the 2020 Spotlight Awards for Catch Me If You Can. You can see Will's work all over Nashville on high school, college, and professional theatre stages as well as in The Fairlane Hotel in their penthouse pop up bar. You can learn more about Will by visiting his website