Farewell to Mr. Ambron

Imagine being head of a theatre department. Imagine, over a period of six to eight weeks, spending hours upon hours after the school day reading through play scripts, telling the actors and actresses where they need to be at each moment of the play, and running through the play several times until it is more than perfect. Imagine staying at the school until as late as midnight each night during the week leading up to the show, then showing up to teach at seven a.m. the next morning. Now, try imagining going through that process 110 times. To do so would be to step into the shoes of Mr. Bill Ambron, who has headed the Englewood High School drama department for the last 30 years.


In 1981, Englewood High School was in need of a new drama teacher.
“The program was strong during the 15 years that Jack Fisher ran it. Mr. Price, [who was principal at the time], needed someone to build the program back up,” Ambron said. So how did Bill Ambron, the baseball junkie who had never even seen a play in high school, come to be the man that would turn the drama department around?

“I had planned on playing baseball in college while I earned my degree, then figure out where I was going to go from there,” Ambron said. “Well, 119 players were trying out for 15 spots. They cut 90 of us on the first day.” Once baseball was out of the question, Ambron had to figure out what he was going to do instead.

“I took a girl to a play at my college. The lights and everything were so cool. I told her, ‘That’s what I’m going to do.’ She said, ‘What makes you think you can do that?’ I responded, ‘Honey, I’ve been acting all my life.’” And so, a theatre extraordinaire was born.

Thirty-three years and over 100 productions later, Ambron has done more than he ever thought possible.

“When I was in college I had a list of 50 plays I wanted to direct in my life-time. It only took me 15 years to get there,” Ambron said. He has always just tried to take it one year at a time, always thinking about who he is going to be building the plays around in the following year. However, now there is no “following year.” The people of Englewood have asked the same question several times: Is Mr. Ambron really retiring?

“I know I could do this for 10 more years if I wanted to,” Ambron said. “I’ve had my time. I’ve had my 30 years of memories. It’s time for someone else to come in and make their own memories.”

Still, it is hard for people to imagine what Englewood will be like without the voice of Ambron booming throughout the auditorium.

“I have been going to plays directed by Mr. Ambron for a long time” City Councilman Randy Penn said. “He knows how to get the kids to perform at the top level. He really brings out the talent in all of the kids.”

For Ambron, the past 30 years have been everything that he could have wanted and more.

“I’ve been able to earn my livelihood doing something that I enjoyed so much in college,” Ambron said. “Every Saturday night when the show closes and I’m putting away the costumes in my classroom, I think to myself, ‘Am I crazy?’ Other teachers were at home relaxing, and I was at the school cleaning up after the show. It has been an enriching experience, but it has been a tremendous amount of work.” But as Mr. Ambron has learned in his time as a marathon runner and drama teacher, hard work is what brings true happiness.


“When the audience sees opening night and sees all the hard work that the kids have put into the show, it’s all worth it,” Ambron said. “It really is a magical moment when you get out there in front of hundreds of people. It’s amazing to see it happen.”