playbill vip

Welcome to Sister Act and thank you for coming! I'm so glad you're here. You are in for a treat. These ladies (and gentlemen) have worked incredibly hard for eight, long weeks, and they've achieved some remarkable things. 

I picked this show because I wanted something fun but I also wanted something female-centric. We are an all-girls' school, after all, and I wanted to see that represented. It's hard to find musicals with a lot of strong women in it, or even women with strong stage presence, and that is why I picked this show in particular and even more so why I chose to genderbend so many of the characters. From the very beginning, I was really only considering two characters to be played by men. The rest I wanted for the girls who go here, to Presentation Academy, my alma mater. Many of you here today are here because you have a daughter, sister, cousin, etc. who attends Pres, and I want you to see your girls in strong, quality roles as much as possible, and we have an amazingly strong cast because of it.

Backstage is no different. Everything you see onstage (and a lot that you don't) is almost entirely designed, constructed, and run by Pres students. Sure, Cooley and I had a say as TD and director but, to be 100% honest, the only thing in this entire process I've had complete creative control over is this very playbill. And even then, a student created the art!

While I may not be new to the theater world, I am still relatively new to directing, and there is a line in the show that really resonates with me. Deloris says, "I’ll just decide to take it up a half step, and every one of them -- all of them -- just take it up with me." I'll make a decision or a change or a suggestion and these fine, young people just try it with me, they just do it and because of that bravery, vulnerability, flexibility, and trust, I really think we've made something great here. That's what theatre is about.

I can't thank you enough for making this such a memorable first production as Artistic Director at Pres. You've made it all worthwhile. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Ashley Beck Heimbrock, c/o 2006