A note from the director...

     When I began this production I expected to write a director’s note about why I chose this show and the message I wanted to convey with it.  But this show has taken me on an unexpected journey and instead I choose to write about a very dear friend and the legacy he has left on this department. In the winter of 2006, a good friend of mine came to my rescue. His name was Frank Mathews. 

      I was directing a production ofFootloose: the musical for CHS and I thought I had secured a pit orchestra for the show.  A week before opening I learned therewas no pit.  Suddenly I was faced with scrambling for music for the show. I called Frank, who had done tracks for my productionof You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.Frank snapped in to action and in the course of a week he built the entire show by finding pre-recorded tracks for some of it and creating others.  But he didn’t stop there. He sat in on rehearsals, made notes on timing and entrances, and continued to tweak those tracks until they were perfect.  On opening night, no one (but the cast, Frank, and I) had any idea that the music hadn’t been with the show for weeks. For those of you who knew Frank, I know that my story doesn’t surprise you. That was exactly the kind of man he was…caring, generous, helpful, and a true friend.  

      The tracks you will hear tonight are Frank’s creation. When I called him this fall to see if he would do the tracks for Chicagoand he said yes.  He called me the next day with an odd discovery: he had found that he already had 90% of the show in his archive but he didn’t remember ever having done the tracks.  We laughed about his absent-mindedness and he set to work to finish them up.

      A few weeks later, Frank was diagnosed with stage four lungcancer.  He fought it the way he did everything else, with his whole heart. He lost the battle on February 3. Now, I think back to that set of tracks for Chicago he found in his archive and wonder if somehow he knew that I would need those tracks at a time when he wouldn’t have the time to do them so he did them before I even asked for them. That would be so Frank.  

I dedicate this production to him. Thank you, Frank, for all the music, the friendship, and the laughter. You will never be forgotten by this department nor by the many students you helped and encouraged over the years. We all loved you and you made a difference in our lives.  

                                                                     - Barbara Bowers-Camp