The Buccaneer Theatre Company

Raising the Curtain at Bridges Prep

story by HEATHER STEINBERGER             photos by RICHARD STEINBERGER

Laughter erupts as actors Gabriel Davidson and Madison Butler sit on the stage steps at Bridges Preparatory School in Beaufort, paddling an invisible kayak toward the audience. They argue over whether one of them might be purposely baiting sharks with meat paddles — and suddenly Butler whips off her helmet to reveal a dorsal fin.

In the end, no matter what you do, you will be eaten by sharks.

The scene comes from Marshall Pailet’s one-act comedy Everyone Gets Eaten by Sharks, the Buccaneer Theatre Company’s competition piece for the 2026 Palmetto Dramatic Association & South Carolina Thespian High School Festival in February. Choosing a fast-paced comedy marks a new milestone for the young program, which is only in its fourth semester.

Moments like this are now part of campus life at Bridges. When high school performing arts teacher Taylor Leipheimer first arrived on campus, however, they were just a dream.

Leipheimer has been involved in theater nearly all her life. Born and raised in Brunswick, Georgia, she got involved with community theater as an elementary school student; her first production was Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at the historic Ritz Theater.

When she started high school at Glynn Academy, she learned there was a competition side to performing. She called her four-year experience with the Glynn Academy Players eye-opening.

“It was a well-established program, and I immersed myself in it,” she says. “So many theater kids, so many new shows — it was a magical experience. During my junior and senior years, I also was a counselor at the Ritz’s summer theater camps.”

Leipheimer went on to attend Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia, graduating in December 2019 with bachelor’s degrees in history and English and a minor in creative writing. She says she chose the English degree so she would have the option to teach one day.

After earning a master’s degree in public history from Florida State University in Tallahassee in April 2022, Leipheimer initially focused on building a museum career. She felt drawn to education, just not to a traditional classroom at that time.

“I designed exhibits with the goal of making history more interactive,” she says. “Unfortunately, the places I wanted to work couldn’t pay much, and I knew I couldn’t live on $13 an hour.”

Leipheimer shifted gears and took a job for the 2022-23 school year with the Robert F. Munroe Day School near Tallahassee. Tasked with building an after-school theater program, she guided her fledgling troupe through just one show that first school year — on the cafeteria floor, because they didn’t have a stage. She also took seven students to state conference.

“One of them went on to nationals as a ninth-grader, and she cried when she found out,” Leipheimer recalls. She said, “‘This is what it must feel like for the sports kids. I’ve never had this feeling before.’”

During their second year, the troupe performed three shows, and 14 students made it to state conference. Leipheimer’s program was thriving, but she and her husband, Matthew, were unsettled. They didn’t enjoy Tallahassee and wanted to move closer to home.

South Carolina appealed to them, so Leipheimer started looking at schools with established theater programs. When she came across Bridges, however, she dug a little deeper.

“I saw they had a theater program in their 10-year plan,” she says. “I liked the idea of building a program from scratch again. I realized it’s something I’m good at.”

When she reached out to Chief Executive Officer Gary McCulloch, she found a school eager to move theater from a long-range goal to an immediate priority. The students at Bridges agreed.

Gabriel Davidson, 16, says he’d been asking for a theater program for a long time. While Bridges had a theater club for a little while, it met infrequently and primarily involved improv activities.

“When I heard they were finally adding a theater company with a theater teacher, I was excited,” he says. “I knew I had to be the first one to walk in there and audition. I’m so beyond glad that they listened to us, because Buccaneer Theatre Company is amazing.”

Catelyn Moore, 17, agrees, noting that she was thrilled to learn that “our one and only Mrs. Leipheimer offered to teach theater arts and run Buccaneer Theatre Company.”

The theater program drew roughly 20 kids for the 2024-25 school year. This year, more than 90 middle and high school students are involved in some aspect of the program, which includes full-scale plays and musicals, the annual Haunted Forest, seasonal variety shows, and one-act plays for fall and spring state competitions.

The company performed for the first time in November 2024 with Stephen Gregg’s psychological thriller Trap. It was a bold first step — as the play gets darker, audiences suddenly realize they are part of it.

Leipheimer says it was the right show for the right time.

“I wanted to do something different, and we wouldn’t need a lot of set, which was great with a small budget,” she explains. “I saw so much growth in such a short time, especially among the kids who had never been in a play before.”

Then, in February 2025, the high school competition team performed José Cruz González’s one-act play Thaddeus and ‘Tila (A Crane and Frog Tale) at their first PDA/SC Thespian High School Festival at Coastal Carolina University.

“Competitions are an intentional part of this theater program,” Leipheimer says. “I want to expose kids to different ways of performing, different types of storytelling, and the transformative power of catching the audience off guard.”

For Hailey Sasseen, 16, that first conference remains a favorite memory.

“Every time I think about it, I feel nothing but pure happiness,” she says. “We got to connect with other schools and watch entirely new productions. Even though everyone was technically a stranger, it was like you’d known everyone there for years.”
What’s more, the company took home an ensemble award, and two students won individual honors.

“It’s a defining moment for a student to be recognized, and to see their awards in the trophy case at school,” Leipheimer says. “But I tell them, when you feel good about what you’ve done and feel such incredible energy from the audience, you’ve already won.”

Hot on the heels of the CCU trip was the company’s first stage musical: the teen version of Hadestown, written by Anaïs Mitchell. This would prove to be a high-water mark for many of the students, who fondly recall how it felt to sing and dance together for the first time.

But for Leipheimer, fall 2025 rises to the top of her own highlights list. Not only did the annual Haunted Forest triple in size, welcoming more than 600 people and raising more than $3,000 in just three hours on Oct. 24, the Buccaneer Theatre Company hosted its first sold-out performances in early December.

Their immersive production of 1984: An Expressionist Play, written by Geert Simon Arnoldus de Koning and Sherry Wadenholm, doubled as Leipheimer’s thesis project for her Master of Fine Arts degree in theater education, which she will receive from the Mississippi University for Women in May. The promenade-style performance challenged audiences to move through the story rather than watch from fixed seats.

“We have to break that idea that theater is just one thing,” she says. “It’s also immersive shows, variety shows, promenade-style shows. I want to give these kids unique experiences and a well-rounded performing arts education.”

She is succeeding, if the bus conversations at state conference are an indicator. After a full day of attending theatrical productions, the students are always eager to discuss creative concepts, technical execution, and why something was particularly impactful.

“I’m often amazed at the intellectual, deep conversations I hear on those buses,” Leipheimer says. “And the kids are leading them.”

Last fall, the Buccaneer Theatre Company had an opportunity to attend the South Carolina Theatre Association’s Convention 2025 at Clemson University, their second state-level conference. They brought home group and individual awards for The Drowning Girls, written by Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, and Daniela Vlaskalic.

Bianca Carrera, 17, says this has been her favorite memory so far.

“I loved the preparation, perfecting our play, and seeing the amazing other plays performed by other schools,” she says. “What made it even better was my two co-actresses. We all still love to quote our lines to each other and are great friends.”

At press time, the entire company was preparing for their spring production — Catherine Johnson’s beloved jukebox musical Mamma Mia! — which is scheduled for April 23-25 at Bridges. Leipheimer is directing, with middle school performing arts teacher Jessica Zsamar handling choreography and high school English teacher Gracie Laseter assisting with vocal coaching.

“This show has a special place in my heart,” Leipheimer says. “During my first year teaching, I was watching Mamma Mia! at the Florida state conference. At intermission, I started looking up MFA programs in theater education, because I realized this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Mamma Mia! will be the last production of the 2025-26 school year. Then, everyone’s focus will turn to the 2026-27 season as well as Bridges Prep theater courses.

Leipheimer now offers Theater I, Theater II, and Tech Theater for high school students. She says she is passionate about helping them develop transferable technical skills that will give them an edge in college and beyond.

“I tell them not to pigeonhole themselves,” she says. “Build skill sets where the jobs are. You can still perform, but we need people who also know how to do lighting, sound, costuming, and other behind-the-scenes work.”

The students recognize how much they’ve grown and changed through the Buccaneer Theatre Company. They’ve built confidence, explored their creativity, learned to handle challenges, and even discovered potential career paths.

For many of them, the program’s greatest impact lies beyond courses and conferences, and it cannot be measured in ticket sales, filled seats, or awards.

CEO Gary McCulloch sees it, too.

“In our theater program, students don’t just learn lines,” he says. “They learn agency, collaboration, and how powerful it feels to belong.”

For these students, that sense of belonging is everything.

“As someone who was never into sports, theater gave me not only a hobby, but also a community,” says Johanna Steinberger, 16. “It’s a space where people can be themselves and feel like they belong.”

Dakarai Gaynor, 16, agrees. “Those spaces can become safe spaces for kids who are more artistic and don’t have other programs.”

“I ended up finding more than a community,” Sasseen adds. “I found a family.”

For information about Bridges Preparatory School, visit bridgespreparatoryschool.com. To order tickets for Buccaneer Theatre Company productions, visit buccaneertheatrecompany.ludus.com.