Broadway Green Alliance recognizes Lipscomb theatre as national leader in sustainable practices
Kim Chaudoin |
Students in Lipscomb Theatre's scene shop prepare for a production. Photo: Kristi Jones.
An old adage in the theater world is that the show must go on.
At Lipscomb University, much of what goes into the show does, too.
A wall from one production may become part of the set for another. A costume might be altered, restyled and returned to the stage in a future production. Scrap lumber is saved for its next role. Materials more commonly destined for the trash are finding unexpected second acts.
Those practices have helped position Lipscomb University’s Department of Theatre as a national leader in sustainable collegiate theatre. Now its work has earned a first-of-its-kind honor from the Broadway Green Alliance (BGA), an organization that advocates for environmentally friendly practices across the entire theater industry.
Lipscomb has been part of the Broadway Green Alliance since 2023, when the department joined its College Green Captain Program, a national initiative that equips students and faculty to lead sustainable efforts in collegiate theatre. Green captains receive resources, educational opportunities and support from BGA to help their departments find practical ways to reduce environmental impact.
At Lipscomb, those student leaders work alongside faculty to identify opportunities to reduce waste, conserve resources and incorporate environmentally responsible practices throughout productions. The department currently has nine student Green captains: Sarah Cooper, Phoebe Countryman, Erin Crandall, Kayla Dunn, Mack Gregory, Ella Haganman, Sara Kovitch, Haley Kate Nelms, Bowen Sellers and Emma Spillman.
Each year, BGA presents a College Green Captain Award recognizing an individual student for outstanding leadership in sustainable collegiate theater. This past spring, Lipscomb decided its students should put their work forward for consideration.
Student green captains Cooper and Dunn took the lead in completing the application, describing the range of sustainability practices that have become part of the department’s everyday work. While the BGA ultimately awarded the 2026 College Green Captain Award to a student at another institution, the organization saw something in Lipscomb’s application that it believed deserved recognition of its own. They say that sustainability at Lipscomb was not centered around one student, one project or one production. It represented the collective work of an entire department.
So the organization created a new award.
“BGA presented a special award to the Lipscomb University theatre department for its exceptional collective commitment to climate solutions. The department demonstrated a practical and collaborative approach to environmental stewardship by repurposing costumes and set pieces, utilizing digital scripts and opting for energy-efficient appliances,” stated a press release announcing the award.
“That was the surprise,” said Andy Bleiler, associate professor of theatre who oversees scene production and serves as Lipscomb’s faculty green captain. “They said, ‘No, you didn’t get that award. We gave that to a single student at another university. We’re creating a special award that we’ve never given before to your entire department because you’re an outstanding college doing this.’”
For Bleiler, the recognition affirms an approach that began long before there was an award attached to it. He said at the core of that approach is a simple question: Before something is discarded, can it serve another purpose?
“We really don’t throw much away,” he said. “Everything that we buy and build, we then work into a future show. We’re really averse to throwing things in the trash.”
Bleiler estimates that on many productions, 60% to 90% of the scenery and other elements incorporate something reused or repurposed from the department’s existing inventory.
This costume for a 2024 Lipscomb Theatre production was created from piecing together neckties once worn by long-time English department Chair Morris P. Landiss.
Costumes are similarly altered and reused, while donated clothing and fabric have become valuable resources for future productions. Scenic pieces, furniture, lumber and other materials are carefully stored so they can take on new lives. Those practices are good for the environment, Bleiler said, but they also make good financial sense.
“When I started looking at the research, we actually were saving money,” he said. “It was cheaper to do this sustainable approach than it was to buy plastics and other things. It’s really good for our health and the environment, but it’s also cheaper for the university.”
That experimentation grew in part from Bleiler’s pursuit of a master’s degree in sustainability at Lipscomb, which he completed in 2024. His capstone research focused on finding alternatives to Styrofoam, a material commonly used in theatrical scenic construction because it is inexpensive and easy to carve, but difficult to reuse or dispose of responsibly.
He began experimenting with papier-mâché, paper pulp and other alternatives. For Lipscomb’s 2023 production of Big Fish, he used crinkled paper packaging material in place of plastic sheeting to create texture on the set. Other productions have incorporated discarded or donated materials transformed into scenery and costumes in ways that might not have been obvious when those materials began their lives.
Sometimes the experiments work exactly as planned, other times they do not. Either way, Bleiler said, students learn from the process.
“That’s one of the things that helps our graduates,” Bleiler said. “They are scrappy. They can make $10 look like $400.”
That resourcefulness, said Christopher Bailey, professor of theatre and co-chair of the department, is an important part of preparing students to work professionally.
“Our students are learning what it looks like to think ahead, both as a steward of resources in our industry and as a functioning person in the world,” said Bailey. “This is part of our mission in training theatre practitioners.”
For Lipscomb’s green captains, the role is less about persuading the department to adopt sustainable practices than about strengthening an existing culture. It also connects them to a larger movement among college theatre students across the country.
“We are inspired by our College Green Captains across the country, who are working every day to incorporate climate solutions into their theatre programs,” said Austin Braxton-Smith, BGA program manager, in a press release announcing the award. “There is so much creativity, passion and drive in the next generation of theatre makers, and this award celebrates the many ways these dedicated students are taking action.”
At Lipscomb, that commitment is reinforced by faculty members who already prioritize sustainability.
Sarah Cooper
“The BGA captains help make sure we are doing what we can within our department to follow sustainable practices,” said Sarah Cooper, a senior acting and law, justice and society double-major from Columbia, Tennessee. “It’s not difficult, because our professors are so passionate about this mission.”
Cooper said that at some universities, green captains may find themselves advocating for basics such as reducing waste or sourcing more environmentally responsible paint and lumber.
“At Lipscomb, our professors are always thinking of that,” she said. “This means our green captains can simply work with like-minded professors who also want to practice sustainability, and we can assist them in bringing that to life.”
An important part of their role is also helping other students understand why those choices matter.
For Cooper, who directed Lipscomb’s production of The Giver this month and has worked as an actor, assistant director, lighting electrician and crew member on numerous productions, the impact reaches well beyond campus.
“It is especially important in educational settings because it is where our future professionals are being equipped,” she said. “Lipscomb’s theatre department prioritizing sustainability means every single student learns how to do it, then can go out and bolster that priority, which then spreads throughout the greater theatre communities.”
Kayla Dunn
Many of Lipscomb’s green captains are studying acting or musical theatre rather than technical theatre or production, according to Bleiler, evidence that sustainability has become a natural part of the culture across disciplines.
Senior Kayla Dunn, a musical theatre major from Charlotte, Tennessee, said the department’s philosophy has changed the way students think about everything from costumes to everyday rehearsal practices.
“One of the biggest changes we’ve made is reusing what we already have,” said Dunn. “Instead of throwing things away after a show, we reuse costumes by altering them for future productions. If we no longer need them, we sell or donate them so they can still be used. We do the same with set materials by rebuilding and reworking old sets instead of starting from scratch every time.”
Students are encouraged to carry reusable water bottles rather than use single-use plastic bottles. Rechargeable batteries are used in microphone packs. Scripts increasingly are digital rather than printed, Bleiler explained.
Props stored for reuse in Lipscomb Theatre's Scene Shop, which is in the university's former steam plant that was refurbished for this new purpose in 2025.
In addition, for several years, audience members have also received small cards containing QR codes that link to digital programs instead of traditional printed playbills. That change alone reduces significant paper waste, Bleiler said, while also giving the department the flexibility to update programs when cast or crew information changes. A sustainability statement included in those digital programs explains the department’s goals and outlines how scenery, costumes, lighting and other production elements are being reused or sourced with environmental impact in mind.
For Dunn, those choices are teaching lessons that will matter long after graduation.
“Making sustainability a priority helps reduce the impact we have on the environment on our campus and in Nashville,” she said. “This also teaches everyone who goes through our program to be more creative and resourceful. We’re still able to create meaningful productions without being irresponsible toward the environment.”
That resourcefulness also makes students more versatile theater professionals. Although Dunn is primarily a performer, her Lipscomb experience has included building sets, hanging lights and working with costumes in addition to appearing onstage. She will portray the “Witch” in the department’s upcoming production of Shrek the Musical this fall.
“Lipscomb’s Department of Theatre has prepared me by making sure I am a well-rounded artist in all aspects of theatre,” she said.
The Broadway Green Alliance was launched in 2008 to help the theatre industry adopt more environmentally responsible practices. Its work has expanded from Broadway productions to touring companies, regional theatres, venues and educational theatre.
Through the College Green Captain Program, Lipscomb is part of a national network of collegiate theatre programs learning from professional practices — and, increasingly, contributing ideas of their own. That connection is significant to Bleiler because today’s students will soon become the designers, actors, technicians, directors and other professionals shaping the industry.
“When they go to work at a community theatre or a regional theatre, or a tour or Disney, they’re taking those passions and skills with them,” he said.
For students, the lesson is not only about conserving resources. It is understanding the value of those resources in the first place.
Bleiler regularly challenges students to consider the journey a sheet of plywood, a piece of fabric or another material has taken before it arrives in the scene shop, and the financial and environmental resources invested in getting it there.
“This is precious as a resource,” he said. “Every inch of it is worth keeping if we can.”
For Bleiler, the recognition is as much about what comes next as it is about celebrating what the department has already accomplished.
“I’m really proud of the work that the students did and the work that we continue to do,” said Bleiler. “We’re always looking for ways to figure out what’s the next thing.”