Welcome to MTA’s Lucky 13th Season! With eight full stage productions, a Holiday Show, Minis Program, and Benefit this season is sure to excite our audience members!
It takes so many people to make a production come to life. I give many heartfelt thanks to the hard-working production staff, amazing volunteers, our donors and sponsors, the Board of Directors, and our very talented performers.
Please continue to check our website at www.musicaltheatreofanthem.org, or sign up for our mailing list for detailed audition and performance information.
It is MTA’s hope that you will return to future productions, as audience members and performers, so that we may continue to offer “high quality theater to performers and patrons alike."
--Jackie Hammond
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Thornton Wilder designed Our Town to reflect the simplicity and beauty of small-town life while highlighting the importance of relationships and family. The set of the play is sparse and representational, allowing the audience to focus on the relationships and dialogue between characters. Many props are pantomimed to suggest their existence without taking away from the simplicity of the moments in each scene.
As Emily reflects in Act Three, “It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one another.” Wilder believes, and we along with him, that the whole earth is just “too wonderful for anybody to realize.” And it simply flashes before our eyes.
The family relationships in the Webb house and the Gibbs house are designed to serve as every American family in 1901. Siblings squabble, boys play baseball, parents admonish and fuss, spouses plan and reminisce, and townsfolk gossip and meddle.
As we watch Emily’s life unfold, we are reminded that life is fleeting and that we must learn to cherish “every, every minute.” This same rule is true for Mrs. Gibbs who longs to see Paris, France, but never gets the chance. There is a sense in the play that everyone must learn to seize the day and not let life slip away without realizing its potential.
Wilder’s play invites us to savor the everyday moments of life, really taking the time to see one another and know one another deeply. In this way we will fully experience joy.
It was a great joy to be able to direct this masterpiece. I was so fortunate to have this extremely gifted cast who were so professional and accepting. Special thanks to Jessica and Sierra for all their help and incredible work on this play. Finally, a big thank you to Jackie and all the MTA family for this opportunity and making me feel so welcomed.
-- Jim Gradillas
