A Phantom in Abiquiú?

By Jessica Rath

Rick Hilsabeck and Sarah Pfisterer. Image credit Rick Hilsabeck.

​Well, not really, but close. You may recognize Rick Hilsabeck as an oil painter who participates in the Abiquiú Studio Tour, but did you know that he also was a highly successful professional singer, dancer and actor on the Broadway Stage? He and his wife Sarah Pfisterer toured for many years in the first national tour of The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with Rick in the role of the Phantom and Sarah as Christine. Other Broadway shows they starred in were Billy Elliot, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Show Boat, Phantom of the Opera,  and many more.
How does one end up in sleepy and isolated Abiquiú, after being used to much applause from national and international stages? Abiquiú’s artist community will readily understand Rick’s motivations; after all, he has been a painter all his life and is fascinated by the light and the colors here. But I was curious to find out what else inspired Sarah and Rick to move to New Mexico, and they kindly agreed to an interview.
 
Both Sarah and Rick grew up in the Midwest. Rick is from Chicago, and even as a young boy he loved to paint. He’d regularly visit the Chicago Art Institute where he particularly enjoyed Impressionist art and color.  In high school  he caught the theater and music bug, as he told me, and singing, dancing, and performing took precedence – but he still always painted as well.
 
“We spent a lot of time in Boston, Chicago,  and in the New York City area. Our careers were spent working on the Broadway stage and in New York CIty. We also traveled all over the place”, Rick explained. 

Rick & Sarah as Phantom and Christine. Image credit Rick Hilsabeck.

​“Several years ago, I took a 10-day painting trip with my teacher to Ghost Ranch, which made me  fall in love with Northern New Mexico”, he continued. He decided that some day they would return. They  raised their two daughters in Connecticut,  and when the girls had graduated from high school and were ready for college, Sarah and Rick could realize their plan.
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“We've always loved Abiquiu. But we thought it'd be difficult to find something there. We looked for a long time …”
 
“We were looking at the Santa Fe region”, Sarah continued, “and we were almost ready to throw in the towel. We gave ourselves another two weeks. And that night I was looking through the listings, and this house came on the market, and that’s how we ended up here!”
 
Tell me a bit more about your theater life. When you say you were touring, what were you doing exactly?
Sarah answers:  “Well, we played opposite each other in The Phantom of the Opera; he was the Phantom and I was Christine. We were in the First National Company and we toured all over: Chicago, Washington DC, Dallas, Atlanta, Denver… and all over the country. We would stay in one city for months at a time; for example, we played Chicago for nine months and were in Boston for about six months. It was a great way to see the country. I left Phantom to play Magnolia in Showboat on Broadway and then to reprise the role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera, also on Broadway.  Prior to his Broadway Musical Theatre career, Rick was a founding ​member and principal dancer in Chicago's Hubbard Street Dance Co”. 

Sarah as Eliza, and Rick as Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady. Broadway World

Sarah and Rick have two daughters who are both in college now. “When they were younger, we wanted to be home for them”, Rick continues. “So, following our regular Broadway theater work, where we had to go into the city for an eight-shows-a-week schedule, we decided to shift our careers in order to be home more often. We opened a Performing Arts School (Wiremill Academy) in the town where we lived in Connecticut, outside of New York City. We did that for 11 years. The pandemic shut us down, like it did to a lot of places. And that  set our timetable forward at least a couple of years”.
 
Sarah found a position as the Arts Program Director at the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe. I asked her to tell me more about her job.
 
“Well, New Mexico School for the Arts is a public charter school, open to students from all over the state of New Mexico. It’s a high school, grades nine through 12. Thanks to a lot of tireless work on the part of the President of NMSA, Cindy Montoya, generous donors, and the State of New Mexico,  we have a residence; next year, we will have a seven-days- a-week program, enabling our students from further afield to be able to be here the whole time and not have the burden on the families of traveling four or five hours each way, twice a week. Our students have their rigorous academic classes from 9:10 until 2: 05. And then from 2:15, to 4:55, they have their classes in their arts block. We have five different disciplines: we have creative writing, dance, music, both instrumental and vocal, theater, and visual arts. And if a student is with us for four years, they graduate with over 2000 hours of mastery arts training. We have a 100% college acceptance rate, 97% of our students go on to college, or they take a gap year. And so we feel really wonderful serving the students and families of New Mexico.  I have the privilege of overseeing the five arts programs”.
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When was that school established?
“In 2010. Next year will be our 15th year. Bill Richardson signed it into law. We're grateful to the state of New Mexico and to our very, very generous donors. We have a wonderful board of directors and we have donors who are so generous with both their time and, of course, financially”.

Sarah continues: “It's a public charter school, and students attend at no cost. The Art Institute, which is the part that funds the arts programming, raises over $2.7 million a year to fund the arts. But for the students it's a public school and it's tuition free. The state funds the Charter School’s academic programming. The Art Institute is a non-profit organization”.
 Rick adds:  “It’s really a unique thing. As Sarah was saying, an amazing amount of support comes not only from the families and the arts donors and supporters, but the state and the city are quite proud of the program. So it's a pretty great thing”.

I bet you have many applications – how do you choose who will be admitted to the school?
“We have a workshop model now where students apply”, Sarah explains.  “We evaluate them on passion, promise and aptitude. They come for three hours, they create something, whether it's  something in writing or something in visual arts, a sculpture or drawing, or they learn something theatrical or learn a piece of music – everybody creates something. And then we evaluate   our students' passion, promise, and aptitude”.

I’m impressed. Sarah found this great job that allows her to be involved with the arts and to educate young people, and Rick is able to pursue his painting career.

Rick, tell me a bit more about your painting.
“I didn't always have the kind of time that I have now. But it always was a dream of mine. And so, again, all of the pieces kind of fell in place. The color here, and the light and the air are all reasons why there are lots of artists here. Something drew me to that light. I work in oils, I do a lot of landscapes,but I also paint lifes, abstracts and abstract landscapes”.

Abiquiu Cottonwood. Oil on canvas. Rick Hilsabeck website

​Sarah and Rick have lived in Abiquiú for just about two years now, but they have already formed many close friendships and feel they’re part of the community. They can ask their neighbor across the road if they need anything. They appreciate that everybody welcomes them and  is friendly and helpful. I’m not really surprised: they’re both so open and warm, people simply return what they receive. Maybe there will be an Abiquiú Theater in the future?
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Thank you, Sarah and Rick, for a lovely interview.