Tom Carroll is the musical theater teacher as well as the director of musical productions and other shows. Prior to coming to Q.S.I. in 2022, Carroll worked at P.S. 154, which is in the same neighborhood. Each school year he has directed a musical – “Little Shop of Horrors” in 2023, “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” in 2024 and “Mamma Mia!” in 2025. This school year he’s directing “Footloose,” which will premiere on Jan 30.
Members from the cast of “Footloose” mostly agree that despite being strict sometimes, Carroll is a nice, passionate, loud and energetic person who is fun to be around and helps them improve their craft.
“He’s a really nice guy,” said freshman Haruto Lloyd. “Even though I have some flaws, he always tries to make sure I grow from those flaws and helps me to become a great actor.”
Sophomore Leilani Rivera echoed that sentiment, describing him as “a very outgoing and supportive teacher” who tries to help students.
According to Parent Program Assistant Victoria Gomez, who’s also the production assistant for school shows, Carroll has really big ideas and when you go to the shows “you can see what he saw in his head.”
Carroll discussed his background and love for musical theater and what he envisions going forward.
Q: What previous experiences made you want to become a theater teacher?
A: Well, my theater experience dates back to when I was in school, specifically to when I was in grade school, middle school and high school. I learned how to play the trumpet when I was in elementary school and that was my access to learning music. Then when I went to high school, I was invited to play in the pit orchestra for the musical and my first show I was ever in was “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” And then, believe it or not, funny story, when I was a senior in high school I was supposed to play the trumpet in the pit orchestra, but they didn’t have a trumpet part. And guess what show that was? “Footloose.” So because they didn’t have a trumpet part, I decided to try out for the play and I got the part of Reverend Shaw Moore. And that was my access to theater. Here we are 20 years later and now I’m directing “Footloose.”
Q: What’s your favorite part about QSI?
A: My favorite part about QSI is the community that we built here. I think my favorite part is how close we all are and how it’s a small school so we all really get to know each other on a personal level not just a professional level. I love how all the different communities get along. For example the athletic department gets along with the arts department and I like that we get to share each other’s experiences. I also really love how creative our students are and how we can share each other’s talents for different things.
Q: What is your favorite Broadway show?
A: My favorite Broadway show is Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” because it teaches so many wonderful lessons. It uses fairytale characters and it uses these childhood characters to teach very important life lessons. It teaches us what happens when we get all the things that we wish for, like very quickly. So, for example, Cinderella wishes for the prince. What happens when she gets something she wishes for? What’s the consequence of those actions? What happens next? We always stop the story with what happens right when they get what they want, but what happens next? What’s the longer version of the story? It’s a really interesting, colorful story and Sondheim’s lyrics are just wild in general.
Q: What is your dream role?
A: That’s a hard question; my dream role changes through time. I think my dream role right now would probably be Bobby in the musical “Company,” which is also a Stephen Sondheim show. One of my favorite Broadway show tunes of all time is “Being Alive” and is from “Company.”
Q: What hobbies do you have besides theater?
A: I love to go to the gym, so I love working out. And I also love to play piano on the side. I enjoy hanging out with my friends and a more recent thing I’ve taken up is hiking. So I love to drive up north a little bit to the mountains and just get out in nature and go hiking, get out of the city, clear my mind.
Q: What do you see in the future for the theater program?
A: I look forward to the auditorium getting repaired and getting our tech equipment repaired. And I’d love to see more interest in building out the tech department, people running the sound, the backstage stuff. I’d also like to see just more students being members of the cast and also students taking initiative outside of school – auditioning for plays outside of school so they can take the talents they’re learning here and bring that out into the community.
