The Chatham Arts Council is investing in artists through our Meet This Artist (MTA) series, introducing you to 12 Chatham County artists each year in a big way. The fine folks at Hobbs Architects in downtown Pittsboro are powering our Meet This Artist series this year. Architecture is art, and the Hobbs crew values art in our community. So, take a look. Meet your very inspiring neighbors.
Creighton Irons is a musical theater creator whose work has been seen across the globe, from theaters in New York City and Tokyo, to his current creative home here in Chatham County. With a passion for the collaborative spirit of music and theater, Creighton has spent his career bringing communities together through the performing arts. A Chapel Hill native, Creighton’s deep love for nature and community has always influenced his artistic journey. Whether through his impactful musicals like Factory Girls and The Moon and the Sea or through his work as a teaching artist and the Artistic Director of Woodshed Arts, Creighton is dedicated to nurturing creativity in both individuals and communities. In this interview, we explore his artistic evolution, the power of collaboration, and the ongoing journey of creating new musical works that speak to the heart of the human experience.
At what point when you were growing up did you realize that you were a creative?
That’s a great question. My whole life, I’ve always loved to make music and theater. I remember when I was five years old, I wrote a play about my dog dying for kindergarten and acted it out–I played the dog.
Then, I took piano lessons for a few years until I was about eight, but it just never quite clicked. In eighth grade, I wrote a musical as part of an independent study. I didn’t know how to play an instrument, so I would just sing the songs and clap along. It was kind of a mess, honestly, but I pushed through.
Things really started to take off when I wrote a show my senior year of high school, and then a couple more in college. I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection of music and theater. Eventually, I ended up going to graduate school at NYU Tisch School of the Arts for musical theater writing, which was both exciting and surreal.
What is it about the intersection of music and theater that inspires you? Was there a particular experience or soundtrack that sparked that joy in you as a young person?
In high school, I was a runner. My freshman year, I was really fast—one of the top runners on the team, actually. I had big dreams of going to the state meet. But then I got injured, and it was devastating. Looking back, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but at the time, it felt like everything.
My parents took me to New York for a trip, and we saw three musicals. That’s when everything changed. I’ve often thought back to that time. It was from real disappointment that a brand new pathway opened.
What did you see?
Oh! We saw Rent, which was the big one. Rent really stuck with me—it’s the one that I associate most with my 14-year-old self. We also saw Titanic—which, honestly, was terrible—and Les Miserables, which was absolutely amazing.
By then, I had already developed an interest in musical theater from seeing shows at Chapel Hill High. I thought it was so cool. We saw Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Oklahoma, and all the productions they did there. They’ve always had such an amazing facility. I was a bit jealous, because I went to East Chapel Hill, and they had this incredible theater at Chapel Hill High.
So, you spent time in New York, arguably the largest pond for a musical little fish, full of artists. Then you came back here to this medium-sized pond. Tell me about that choice.
It’s funny because I think about this often. My interview at NYU had two parts. One was about finances—“How are you going to pay for this? It’s super expensive.” And then they just kind of make you figure out a way. The other part of the interview was, “Why do you want to do this? Are you sure about this?”
The interviewer asked, “What do you want to do with this degree?” And I said, “I’m not sure if this is the right answer, but I would love to move back to North Carolina and start a community theater.” And that’s exactly what I did.
I spent a little more time in New York to hone my craft, build connections through grad school, and figure out how to make the most of my time there. But the goal was always to come back to North Carolina.
When a job opened up at Woods Charter School to teach music, I jumped at it. I also started a summer musical program where we made a musical in a week with kids. Recently, we’ve been working to formalize that program, and in the last couple of years, we started Woodshed Arts, a nonprofit, and we’ve been getting that off the ground.
It’s a thrill to get to do what I love. I love the creative process. I love collaborating with others. I also enjoy the solitary part of brainstorming and drafting on my own, but there’s something so dynamic about creating with others in the room.
What is the project that you are most proud of?
That’s like choosing your favorite kid. Like, I love all my kids. Right? I love them all equally. I do. And I love all the shows that I’ve created. I am proud of each one of them.
Haha. No, but who’s your favorite, really?
I love–haha, right. Well, I’m proud of–Can I say two?
Absolutely! It’s your interview.
When I was in grad school, I wrote a musical called Factory Girls, which really launched my career. It’s about the first working women in America—those who moved from rural areas to work in the mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. It’s inspired by American rock music, kind of like Petty mixed with Zeppelin. It’s set during a pivotal time in history—the dawn of the women’s rights and workers’ rights movements. It’s been produced all over the country in smaller venues, but it wasn’t until it was performed in Japan that it got its large-scale production. They did an amazing job in Tokyo and Osaka. It’s incredible to see it performed in a language I don’t even understand.
I’m also really proud of The Moon and the Sea, which is much more personal and on a smaller scale. The music in that show is probably the closest thing to the music of my soul.
Let’s circle back to Woodshed Arts. Tell me a little bit about where you are at now and where you see it going in the future.
Woodshed Arts is our collective. We focus on collaborative creativity. We do song swaps, songwriting classes, and next year, we’re putting together a band—kind of like a School of Rock style experience. But we’re not just learning songs and playing parts. We’re also going to focus on creating the character of the band itself.
The whole idea is total creation—not just taking something existing and doing it your way (which is also cool), but making something entirely new. I think, as humans, we are inherently creative. A lot of times, we stifle that creativity or fritter it away on social media. But I don’t think those outlets build community or a sense of belonging. What we want to do is foster shared community and shared joy.
Woodshed Arts’ flagship program is the Creative Ensemble, a group of teenagers and young adults who create a brand-new musical every year. Last year, we created a loose adaptation of As You Like It. We used the characters and basic plot, but everything else was original. We performed it at a replica of the Globe Theater in Wales made out of willow trees, and it was a magical experience.
Looking ahead, we have some exciting plans for next fall. I’m especially excited about a new series of weekend workshops with my partner Eric Jacobs on theater tech, where non-techies can explore things like prop-making, lighting, and other behind-the-scenes aspects. Eric is a genius in that area.
I was delighted by Woodshed’s showcase at the JumpstART walkabout at ClydeFEST this year. I thought the teens handled really dark subject matter with such courage and kindness—facing hard truths but still bringing humor and joy. It was really special.
This year, they were delving into stuff that was a little bit darker, but if you’re gonna live with the show for nine months, it can’t be too dark. Whenever we’re together, whenever this group is together, there’s so much joy there. That joy comes through in the show, and it helps us to lift up our spirits through the subject matter.
They brought up the things they were dealing with, such as anxiety and OCD, intrusive thoughts and a sense of isolation. We put it all into a show, but the book is not about those things, it’s about the heart of the community. It’s really about how we see each other in whole ways. Like, you’re not this weird thing. You are a whole person who may operate in a way that is not easily integrated into all parts of society, right? But you are still worthwhile, and you are still beautiful in so many ways.
Yes. That is the big secret, you know? So, the “crazy” song–I don’t know if it’s called “Crazy”.
“I’m not crazy.. Am I crazy?.. If I’m crazy…”
“Are you crazy too?” It’s easy when you’re in your own little bubble to think that you’re the only one that feels that way, but if you look around, the big lie is that we’re all a little crazy.
We’re all a little crazy. And thank God. You know, because if we weren’t, how boring would this be? We already have machines that can do most normal things for us. The embers that we have to blow on are the parts of ourselves that we don’t quite understand. The parts of us that are little bits of magic. That is spirit. And that’s where we have to continue to nurture and to celebrate.
For a deeper dive and to keep up to date with Creighton’s current projects, please visit creightonirons.com and woodshedarts.org.
Leave a Reply