Ms. Q wants to thank this tremendous group of young actors, designers, choreographers, dancers, singers and leaders. After a decade of pushing you all out of your comfort zones with shows that take place long ago or far away (or both!) I'm so excited to be doing a show with you that feels so much like a homecoming. I'm proud of all of you and will miss those who are moving on.
To all of our Academy families: your support of your students is the heart and soul of this program. Thank you so much for trusting us with your kids and helping to keep us fed, safe and happy.
To Bronx Prep teachers, administrators and the most rocking facilities team ever--especially Mike, Chris, and Delfin--tons of gratitude. Huge shout out to Laz and Mann.
Thank you to our amazing artistic team, particularly to Selena and Chrissy for sharing your musical skills with us, to Cherise for the beautiful choreography and to William for your musical leadership-- whether you're keeping the personnel on point or the clave in check. Extra shout out to Chrissy for the awesome vocal coaching!
Thank you to Lou, Rosie, Tosh, Jamej and all our friends at Open Hydrant. Here's to a bright future full of continued creative collaboration.
Special thanks to Lou for handling so many responsibilities, from running the spotlight to helping with the program, planning the cast party and beyond.
Thanks to Dave Feldman, our lighting guru, for sharing your know-how with our budding crew of lighting designers, and to PJ for making an 11-piece salsa band and 40 exuberant singers sound beautiful... in a gym!
To Hakeem: it has brought me so much joy to see your design talents flourish at Ithaca. Thank you so much for creating such a beautiful set design for us!
To Julie: set crew mama, mentor, vocal coach, sanity restorer and provider of emergency late-night Frosties... Thank you so much for EVERYTHING.
To our videographer and photographer Alejandro: I knew the day we met in Mexico in 1995 that we had some wild creative adventures ahead of us. Thanks for helping us create such a beautiful record of our work here at Bronx Prep.
To Becky: from Wilton to the South Bronx via Cuba and beyond... what a journey it's been! And what a thrill to see every ounce of your vast choreographic knowledge put to such spectacular use. The kids have absolutely loved working with you, and so have I.
To Denisse Polanco, Amber Quinones, Oliver Askia, Marcus Smith, Ingrid Williams, Brian Sanchez, Thomas Sosa, Brianne Powell, Melanie Mendez, Hakeem Vera and all the alumni who continue to come back to support us, thank you. We love you!
To Lin-Manuel Miranda: thank you for writing a beautiful show and for coming to Bronx Prep and inspiring a new generation of theater artists to follow in your footsteps.
To Geoffrey: from watching you make countless kids fall in love with music from Debussy to Donna Summers, to witnessing your signature penguin tap-dance moves light up a dance floor, spending the last ten years at your side has been a joy. You have taught me, supported me, made me laugh and inspired me to dig deep. Thank you, my friend.
Finally, to my family-- mom and dad, Madeleine and Ben, Erik, Siri, Lyle, and the little one on the way... Thank you for making my life beautiful.
