Community theater brings people together; it provides a creative outlet, an opportunity to learn from one another, and creates a culture of working together towards a commonly shared passion. Our new community theater, Horizon West Theater Company, had just gotten the ball rolling after producing our first two mainstage productions: “Music Man” (October 2019) and “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” (January 2020) when Covid-19 came to town.
In April, we made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of our season, and we patiently waited to see when we could come up with what was next. We watched theaters being shut down around the globe and arts education hit the pause button, but we just knew there had to be a way to keep theatre alive during this dark time. Eventually, community theater social media groups began popping up to share ideas and learnings on how to perform virtually. Our HWTC crew came together to attend webinars, watch countless YouTube videos, and read scripts adapted for virtual productions...and it is from this collaboration that our production of “Emma! A Pop Musical - Stay at Home Version” was born.
Though virtual theatre is not a replacement for the in-person experience, We are so glad that we were able to continue providing arts opportunities for our community and beyond! A huge thank you to everyone on this team, from our dedicated Board of Directors, the HWTC committees for dividing and conquering on the various tasks at hand, and of course all the parents that have leant us their talented teens every week. A special “thanks” to the HWTC Marketing Crew (Holly, Jamie, Jenny, and Melody) for helping on everything from programs to getting the word out there, Chris Timmons and Matt Ridge for helping throughout the rehearsal process, and Horizon West Happenings for their continued support. Lastly, thank you to all of our HWTC Members, Sponsors, and Donors...none of this would be possible without you!
-Caleb and Melissa
