playbill vip

 "Sometimes people leave you halfway through the woods"

Debbie Watwood was our chorus teacher and music director at CATA for two and a half years, although she had worked longer with our students after school and through UCPE.  She was loved for her passion for music, her desire to see students succeed, and her willingness to take time for students.  She was a wonderful mother, daughter, and sister to her family, and she was a loved colleague, but more importantly, she was a close friend, not only to me but to the students as well.  Our personal and professional relationship spanned approximately twenty years, and when we lost this wonderful woman, I lost the person who had been my partner in theatre for those twenty years.  We had created two previous productions of Into the Woods, so when we learned of Ms. Aguilera’s battle with pancreatic cancer, this show was the obvious choice for us, not knowing who would replace Ms. Aguilera.  We never realized that halfway into the rehearsal process, we would lose Ms. Watwood.  It is with great love and devotion for this amazing woman that we dedicate these performances to her memory.