playbill vip

To our distinguished Patrons,

First and foremost, THANK YOU for coming to see our production of BIG FISH. This is our first full-scale musical since our 2019 production of Newsies and if feels so good to be back into the swing of things. I am so grateful for the last few years to the students and our patrons for navigating the constant ups and downs of the Pandemic. I loved the movie of Big Fish and also fell in love with the music from this musical. It has been on my list to do at some point, and felt that this year I had the right students to pull this show together. We would not be here today without the help of so many adults, students, and volunteers who helped put this show together. I'd like to give a special shout-out to our Costume Designer, Lydia Collins as this show is easily the most costumes we have had in any show. She and her crew have had many sleepless nights getting this together. The assistant director and technical director, Audrey Young, has jumped in this year with both feet and we are all so lucky to have her around as well!

We were so very fortunate that our cast was able to have a Zoom Call with the show's Author, John August along with the Production assistant for the movie, Derek Frey, and movie's graphic designer, Dianne Chadwick. To be able to talk directly with the people who originally brought this story to life was invaluable. The students were able to ask questions directly to the person who created the characters and the lines. I believe this experience has helped our actors connect to the text and dive into the emotions presented in this musical. 

As always, we are forever dependent on the AZ tax credit program to keep this program thriving. If you are unfamiliar with the program, a single person can contribute up to $200 and a married couple up to $400 to a public program of their choice. They then receive a dollar for dollar credit on their taxes. It will cost them nothing in the end, but helps fund our program, especially with the rising prices. As you well may know, the cost of lumber at the moment has caused our set budget to skyrocket! Thank you for those who have contributed to the tax credit program. We see you, thank you, and are so appreciative. Throughout the program there are some Advertisements from businesses and people. I would like to take a moment as well to thank them for contributing to our program as well. If you visit them or see a person around, please let them know that you appreciate their contribution to support the arts in our schools. 

Lastly, I'd like to thank YOU our patrons. The reason we do theatre is to connect with our audience and share the human experiences. If this is your first ATORT production, we hope it won't be your last. We pride ourselves in presenting top-notch productions to the community. Please let your friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, or the stranger behind you in the grocery store know about the productions here. While we do radio advertisements, newspaper stories, posters, banners, e-mails, and social media...YOU are our best form of advertisements. Thank you for all you do for us. 

Enjoy the show!

James Ball

MUHS Theatre and Choir Director