For Ms. Suzanne Houston – or “SHouston” as she is known on campus to differentiate her from her sister and colleague, Ms. Lisa Houston – theatre has always been more than a job. It’s been the throughline connecting her life as a student, actor, director, and teacher.

Growing up in Princeton, NJ, Houston attended Princeton High School with her two sisters and future brother-in-law. After a brief start at Roger Williams University, she found her home in New York City, transferring to Marymount Manhattan College to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting with a minor in arts education.

Her professional journey began at Sampson G. Smith Middle School, followed by a return to her own alma mater, Princeton Middle School, where she worked alongside former teachers as the school’s drama instructor. But the lure of the stage soon called her back to New York City. For three and a half years, she juggled acting roles in small off-Broadway shows with a wide range of “survival jobs,” from selling perfume to working as an exhibit guide at the National History Museum. It was actually during her time guiding school groups that she realized what she missed most: the classroom.

That realization led Houston to Dunellen Public Schools, where she stepped in as a mid-year replacement, teaching drama and directing productions for grades 6–12. She revitalized Dunellen’s theatre program, directing classic musicals such as Guys and Dolls and Damn Yankees. After a brief move to Illinois while her fiancé was in graduate school, she returned to New Jersey to manage the house at the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, where she also acted, taught, and directed summer programs for a decade before being drawn back to Dunellen once again for another seven successful years.

In 2017, Houston finally joined The Pennington School, a community she had admired for years, as her sister Lisa had taught there. In fact, Houston first directed a Pennington fall play all the way back in 2001, and had even worked as a dialect coach on previous shows. What drew her to Pennington most was the difference in its students: “Here, they take drama because they want to, not because they have to.”

At Pennington, Houston directs both the fall play and the winter musical, productions she affectionately compares to “having two children - you love them both, just for different reasons.” She also plays a supporting role in the Senior Play, helping guide students through the writing process before stepping back to let them take full ownership of the production. Additionally, she mentors the two seniors who co-direct the Middle School Spring Play, helping them develop as leaders.

Two years ago, Houston returned to the stage herself, performing in three musicals: Into the Woods, The Sound of Music, and Meet Me in St. Louis, where she not only acted and sang, but also danced. “Learning lines again helped me reconnect with what my students go through,” she says.

When choosing plays and musicals for her students, Houston strives to provide them with a diverse experience over their four years, encompassing Shakespeare, comedy, drama, devised theatre, traditional musicals, and even rock musicals. Her casting process balances honoring seniors who have committed themselves to theatre while celebrating the range of talent she sees each year.

This summer, Houston will once again take students to the United Kingdom, her third school trip there, where they’ll perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream for audiences in and around London, tour theaters including The Globe and the National Theatre, and immerse themselves in Shakespeare’s world in Stratford-upon-Avon.

When she’s not directing or teaching, Houston is busy keeping the arts alive: organizing coffeehouses, performing with the Faculty Band, and singing annually at The Shakespeare Theatre of NJ’s fundraising gala cabaret, a tradition she has kept since 2005.

Ms. Houston’s career is proof that theatre is as much about community as it is about performance, and Pennington students are fortunate to have a director who helps them grow both on and off the stage!