There was a time when Joey Chavez thought he might be an architect. And another long period of time where he pursued acting. And once — long ago — he wrote on a college admissions document that he'd like to be a drama teacher at a university.

All those dreams came in handy as he ran Santa Fe High School's drama department for 15 years. He started in 1995, and he'll finish this spring. In August, he'll move over to the new charter school, New Mexico School for the Arts, to become the theater department chairman.

In the interim, he's working feverishly to get Urinetown into shape. The cult musical satire by Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis — set in a future society so beset by drought that people have to pay for the right to pee — marks Chavez's last spring musical at the school. It opens at 8 p.m. tonight and runs two more weekends at Santa Fe High.

Speaking in between musical numbers during a recent rehearsal, Chavez said he estimates he's directed 150 shows over the past 10 years. The first was David Ives' collection of short plays called All in the Timing. The last show will be in late May, when Chavez mounts Stress and Coffee, the school's annual "let's put on a show in 24 hours!" theater fest. He'll be leaving the campus after graduation on June 4. The district is currently looking for a replacement for Chavez.

"It was the toughest choice I've made since the choice to leave New York in the summer of 1995," Chavez said of his decision to accept the New Mexico School for the Arts job back in December. "The mission of the school — in my mind — is to build a world-class program focusing on the arts. I want to be part of that."

The new school, housed in the former St. Francis Cathedral School on the corner of Paseo de Peralta and East Alameda Street, does not have a formal theater, Chavez noted. As something of an artistic architect, he helped develop Santa Fe High's theater over the years.

"I'll be leaving a place where I have everything that I built up over the years for a place where I'll have nothing but students," he said. "That's exciting but scary."

He's gone through conflicting emotions. "One day it's very sad, the next day I get very excited about a new opportunity at a new school," he said. "But it'll be kind of like here: I'll tell myself what to do, and then argue with myself about it."

He didn't choose Urinetown as his last show to represent anything particularly symbolic regarding his departure. He heard the musical score, liked it, and realized it would fit his ensemble well. In past years, Chavez has directed such spring musicals as Into the Woods, Les Miserables, and Zombie Prom.

He can rattle off five or six productions he's directed that he's particularly proud of: Titus Andronicus, Jekyll & Hyde, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hard Rain (a raw, sociopolitical drama he co-wrote with his students).

Over the years, he estimates his students have directed or written or co-written close to 100 shows on their own — a tradition he hopes will continue under the future director of the department.

He'll also own up to the rare misfire, like the ill-conceived musical review Spirit, in which he tried to build a new plot around popular show tunes from various musicals. "It was staged beautifully, but it didn't work," he said.

He'll also admit to bouts of self-doubt. "I say to myself, 'This will never work,' or 'Why did I do this piece?' And then the show opens and the magic happens and it works."

Chavez is a Santa Fe High graduate (class of '75). He studied both architecture and theater at The University of New Mexico before studying drama at the University of Oklahoma. That was followed by an internship at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta and then five years of working as an actor in New York City. All told, he was away from Santa Fe for 20 years before returning in 1995 to work at Santa Fe High.

He was one of the founders of the now-defunct Teatro Hispano de Santa Fe, had about 20 of his plays produced (many at Santa Fe High), led his students on a trip to Scotland in 2004 to take part in Edinburgh's Festival Fringe and was among seven teachers named as Santa Fe Public Schools' Teachers Who Inspire in 2008.

In 2005, he started Stress and Coffee, in which Chavez's students have to write, rehearse, direct and produce a program of one acts in 24 hours.

He currently works with about 90 students in grades 9-12 at Santa Fe High. Come August, he'll deal with fewer than 40 in grades 9-11. Some of his Santa Fe High students have applied to New Mexico School for the Arts in an effort to follow their teacher.

"He's not just a teacher, he's a mentor, a second father, someone who is always looking out for your best interests," said Santa Fe High senior Samantha Orner, who is in Urinetown. "He's one of those people who will have a lasting impact on you."

Senior Jennifer Berschen agreed. She said Chavez "tries to earn each student's respect, and keep that respect. And you want to earn his respect too."

He'll be missed, many of his students said. Marilyn Barnes, the school's choir/music/theater teacher, agrees. "His impact is phenomenal," she said. "Kids who didn't know their way, didn't know what to do with themselves, who were getting into trouble, found theater and found Joey. They know they can come to him and he will do whatever he can to help with whatever it is they are going through."

As the district looks to cut about $7 million to meet its budget for next year, arts and theater are prospective chopping-block prospects. Chavez understands the need to trim, but said theater remains underappreciated in terms of its educational impact.

"To the uninformed layperson, theater may seem frivolous or just an 'add-on' to what education is about," he said. "But it's just the opposite. It's an art that can focus the kids and make them want to be in school."

IF YOU GO

Urinetown (The Musical) opens at 8 p.m. tonight and runs Friday and Saturday evenings through May 8 at Santa Fe High School Theater, 2100 Yucca Road. Tickets are $8 and $6. Call 467-2970.