A fourteen-year-old girl sat in a Theatre, years after falling in love with performance, years after saying to herself "I can do that better" while watching Spanish soap operas, and years after reading her first play The Miracle Worker. Watching a One Act Play production of Les Miserable, she fell in love with directing. (It is ironic or maybe a universal wonder that the director of that Les Mis OAP, later became one of Bay City HS's most challenging opponents and the little girl the BCHS Director.) I can describe what the director did with the staging that exact moment, and can not adequately explain how it made me feel. I remember gasping and saying. "I'm going to do this forever" loud enough that the person next to me looked at me. There have been many moments since that made me feel strongly but that gasp alludes me, and so I direct. I remember...
Tami Curry singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow; Travis Tinnin saying those opening lines from Grapes of Wrath "The dawn came but no day", Meredith Muecke begging John Proctor to give up his name, Lenora Ott saying "your shrinking ovaries" in a brilliant moment in Crimes of the Heart that made me fall out of my seat laughing, Victoria Felton laughing at Jason her betrayer in Medea, Kaitlin Brangan walking her father Miles Puleo into her house to hug his son-in-law in A Shayna Maidel, Morgan Watson slapping sweet Cassie Culver until she relented in The Crucible, Ashton Martin running up a flight of stairs and belting "All that Jaaaaaaazz" and the beautiful Rachel Willauer softly reminding her husband of that last commandment....
Who can forget David Powell whose brilliant timing had us in stitches in Noises Off, or Ryan Ashcraft telling his father "You are a dime a dozen" in Death of a Salesman, or Taylor Vasek charming us all in Chicago: The Musical. The cast of Boys Next Door in 2012 made us all a little more human. And finally, I remember the cast of All My Sons at Area contest this past Spring, in a staggering performance that left audience members crying through the strike and left me speechless. I cannot hear wind chimes without thinking of the opening sequence and I find myself unable to breathe for a moment when I am caught in a storm. There are so many more moments.
Theatre production takes endless hours. I spend many here in the Theatre planning, more in rehearsal and many more reading. More hours are spent casting, debating every decision and weighing all the unexpected insecurities that taunt me and derail my vision. I worry about how the kids will feel, how the parents will react, how the community will respond, but I always come back to the realization that this is just a part of the journey. The journey is an anthem I try to inspire them with daily. This is just a page in a greater story, a thread in the tapestry that they are weaving for themselves. We remind each other that we are charged with the responsibility to create lives and share stories so that others can grow in empathy. We are compelled to speak truth and breathe justice where it is absent.
And thus, none of the hours matter. I don't remember them nor the arguments, and the moments of conflict and toil soon wane. I remember the glorious moments with those young performers, the way they made me laugh and cry, the way their eyes light up when they discover a moment. I yearn for that moment when they too say "I am going to do this forever."
To you all, community members, family and friends, please continue to support Theatre. To our seniors, Izzy Rene, Miguel Mirelez, Andrew Richards, Dale Ellis, Manuel Garcia and Jordan Kacko ... I have so many memories of you all performing on this stage. You have all had perfect moments which are forever emblazoned in my heart and mind.
Thank you for your commitment, your steadfastness, your devotion to each other, and the love of your craft. You have enriched my life, moved thousands and you HAVE left a ghost. Love you all fiercely, and CARPE DIEM.
Momo
