Ed Mason has hundreds of kids.
That’s what he tells people when they ask. He has a daughter, Mara, and many, many more that he’s adopted throughout his years as the drama teacher at Durant High School.
His kids dream of being on Broadway and and find solace working backstage building sets. He’s watched timid freshmen blossom into self-confident seniors, feeling a sense of pride each time one of them graduates.
He’s helped his kids put on four productions per year on the Durant stage. He’s taken them to district theater competitions and the annual Florida State Thespian Festival. He’s directed them, acted alongside them and mentored them.
And soon, he’ll be saying goodbye to them. At the end of the year, Mason will retire from his Durant teaching career — one that began the same day the school doors opened for the first time in 1995.
Act I
As a high school student, Mason enjoyed attending the senior productions his school put on every year. When he was a senior, he was encouraged to participate in an all-school show entitled “This is Paris.”
“I was there, and it just bit me.” Mason, a Valrico resident, said. “My first role was a romantic lead. I’m not an introvert, I know that. It was just something I wanted to try. It looked like fun.”
Post high school, Mason continued to feed his hunger for the theater by acting in and directing local productions while he pursued his degree in education.
“I always wanted to be a teacher,” he said. “That was my main aspiration from about sixth grade. “
Mason joked when he first attended college in 1969, he majored in party 101. He took a break from school to join the military and served in the Vietnam War. Then, he earned his associate’s degree in accounting for what he thought would bring him job security.
But it didn’t. And it wasn’t what he wanted to do, either — his heart was still rooted in theater and education.
To jumpstart his career in acting and directing, Mason began auditioning. After finally securing a role in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” he attended 15 other auditions without receiving a single part.
“Then I got a role in a company,” he said.
Mason secured a role with Compass Players, a theater that ran out of a storefront in Carrollwood. From 1985 to 1993, he served on the Compass Players board alongside his wife and fellow theater patrons Richard and Carol Coppinger.
Eventually, Mason left Compass Players and did maintenance work while completing his degree at the University of South Florida. He taught for a short time at Plant City High School before Durant opened its doors in 1995.
“And here I am,” Mason said.
Act II
Mason’s classroom at Durant is nestled just behind the stage in the school’s auditorium. Students have decorated his white board on the wall with doodles and pictures, and posters from old shows and theater competitions are tacked to every available space. Twenty-one years of memories and over 80 shows: Mason can’t remember them all, but he can describe in great detail the ones that meant the most to him.
There was Neil Simon’s “Fools’ in 1995, the first production that the school ever did.
Years later, he did “Beauty and the Beast,” where he took a turn on stage as Maurice, the father of the film’s heroine, Belle. Mason’s stage daughter was played by Sarah Mitchel, one of his former students who went on to study musical theater at Emerson. Today, Mitchel is still in touch with Mason and has gone on to become the educational liaison in New York for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
“That’s my favorite of the bunch,” Mason said. “Some of my best memories aren’t on the stage. I think it’s where the kids went to after they got out of here.”
Mason is preparing for the students’ final show: “Young Frankenstein.” He’s going to leave the department on a laugh.
“The kids love it,” he said. “It’s funny. It’s Mel Brooks. You know, ‘Space Balls’ and ‘Blazing Saddles’ and ‘The Producers.’ I’ve had to modify it a little bit. We’re advertising it as PG-13. There’s a lot of innuendo in it.”
But there’s a lot more that goes into each show than just stage directions and memorizing lines.
“Theater teaches kids to think, create and form lasting bonds with other students,” he said. “And it also teaches tolerance. I think it teaches students to be more of a human being and accept flaws and differences in people. Every character has a little bit of them in it. It allows you to escape. It allows you to learn about the world.”
Act III
Once “Young Frankenstein” closes on Sunday, April 23, Mason will just have a few weeks left before the end of his time at Durant.
“It’s mixed feelings,” Mason said. “It feels pretty good, a little bittersweet. It’s time. I’m happy that I’m retiring because I think it’s time. I’m sad because I’m going to miss watching some of the younger kids grow throughout the year.”
But he will get to watch one younger kid grow. Mason’s first grandchild, named Lincoln Edward James Mann,
is due in July. His wife, who works at Mann Middle School, also will be retiring. The couple’s daughter and son-in-law live next door, giving Mason plenty of time to help raise the next Broadway star — or the next Arnold Palmer.
“I’m going to play more golf and teach my grandson to golf,” he said. Once little Lincoln turns 4, he’ll be given his first putter.
And, naturally, Mason will continue to act. He’ll be getting an agent and plans on joining the Durant High School Drama Boosters.
“I’ll miss the stage,” Mason said. “I started this program. It’s like a little baby leaving the nest, except I’m the baby, letting go.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.