When I was little, I was lucky enough that my Mom read aloud to me. She read me many, many stories, but one story she read has particular significance to this post, The Little Engine That Could. If you don't know the story, the little engine is trying to make it up a hill, and it keeps repeating, "I think I can, I think I can." I can still hear my mom's voice saying those words in the rhythm of a train chugging along. Often times throughout my childhood, if I was discouraged about something, she would say those words to me like the chugging little engine. If you read my last post about 6 weeks ago, you know that I was trying to make a dream become a reality. At times I felt like I just wasn't going to make it, just like the little engine, but people all around me were trusting in that dream and along for the ride, and they were the little voices saying "I think I can. I think I can," and we made it up and over the hill. Last Friday and Saturday, we presented a full musical to the public, and over 300 people came to see it. Family, friends and even strangers who heard about us on the radio (Thanks Wicker & Wilde on Mix 98.1) came out to support live theatre. It was a very successful weekend, but it wasn't because of ticket sales, or radio promos or posters. The success in this production of Chess was because a group of artists including actors, musicians, a choreographer, a sound person, a lighting designer, a photographer, a stage manager and 2 supportive daughters who did everything and anything asked of them from social media, to set construction, to box office, etc. all came together to create art, and what magnificent art they created! I don't know how it is for other directors, but my cast feels like my children. As with any parental/child relationship, there are challenges, and we had our share, but, for the most part, we worked through them together. I wanted to foster an environment of community, collaboration and trust. I also wanted the space to be safe to feel and explore. I hope that's what we created. In addition I wanted to create a show that would invalidate the talk of, "It's JUST Community Theatre," as if that is somehow less than, that people that are in a Community Theater production aren't talented. I know we blew that assumption out of the water! I also wanted to provide a space for people to perform that find it hard to commit to the rigorous schedule that a professional contract demands because they work a full time job. I am an actor as well, and I don't know how many shows I was not able to audition for because I couldn't do the occasional or sometimes weekly Wednesday matinee, or the student productions in the mornings.
Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, that worked on this show did it for FREE. When I first started this I came across the term "passion project," and that's exactly what this was. Everyone had a passion for what they were doing. They wanted to be involved, and the result was beautiful! My choreographer said something at the very beginning of the rehearsal process that stuck with me. She said to the cast that she thought we would all be saying years from now with pride that we were in the very first production of Amaryllis Studios. What encouragement and inspiration that we were doing the right thing! There is no way I will ever be able to put into words the appreciation I have for the group of people that made this dream come true for me. I only hope that in some small way they felt good about helping build that dream.
