As we wind down to the final days of this production, I find myself standing in awe of all that has been accomplished during this production. It seems to me that this production has allowed everyone to step beyond what we've known in the past and the obstacles we've face before, conquer them and face new ones.
Opening weekend was quite a success. Our publicity efforts seem to have paid off, because our audience turn out has been quite significant, and a huge improvement for our department. We have averaged about 140 per night so far. Even our show last night, our first wednesday show, we had the biggest turn out yet with 157. I don't believe you can measure the success of your show by the number of people in the audience, but that is just an extra affirmation of our hard work.
When I first started doing theatre, I was told by a woman I greatly respect, "it's about the work." A mantra I still live with today. This show has been the absolute essence of that motto. When we were reviewed by the KCACTF external reviewer last saturday night, one thing that she complimented us on was our sense of ensemble. The wonderful thing is that, that ensemble extends beyond the acting ensemble but into the sound crew, projection crew, wardrobe staff, stage mangers, and light board operator. It extends into our sense of a being a whole, and with Laura Cuetara's collaboration with every single person working on this show, as our director.
When the project first started there was a lot of concern that maybe we were dreaming too big. I heard over and over, well we should plan big and if we need to scale back we can. There are things from our first visions that didn't make it, but there are more that did. This, is a huge success. There are more film students involved in this show than ever before. Our ability to integrate film into this production, and our collaboration with the film side of our department, this is truly a success. The accomplishment of the PR team, and the amount of publicity and promotion we were able to do and follow through with, this is a huge accomplishment. Overall, the upsets and detours have been minor compared to landslides of the past. Having so many first timers, and freshmen, and also our veterans and seniors, come together in the cast and work and build off of each other- this is a success.
There is room for improvement, there always is, but when I look at how far we've come, I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of what we have accomplished. Since opening night, I've been living with this wonderful thought that we are truly connected to all of those amazing professionals of our past who have presented and told stories through theatre, those who are still working in theatre, and passing it on to those who will do it in the future. When you work in a field like this, you are a part of something so much larger. Billy Joel says, "We didn't start the fire, It was always burning, Since the world's been turning." It's not something we began, but it's something we're apart of, and therefore we are connected and we take part of it. Theatre is addicting. When you live the process, it's infectious.
I can only hope that with three more days, that we can enjoy this time. That we can revel in our now solid show. That we can be cup's on the edge of the table, take risks, have fun, and keep working hard. We can't lose sight of our goals, and always strive to earn every show, but we can be proud of what we've done so far, and continue to build on that.
I want to say thank you to all those who have supported us in this production. To the faculty and department staff, to the families of each production member, and to everyone who has seen our show so far. Please continue to come, bring your friends, and share this experience with us. Only three nights left.
-Felicia Marti
Assistant Director
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