After 8 years of being a teenage actor, and 10 years of producing theatre for children and teenagers with Flying Monkey Productions, there comes a point where you have exhausted all of the good material for teen actors. Teenagers are either playing 40-year-old characters or are not being challenged in their age-appropriate roles. After working with ridiculously talented teen singers, actors, and dancers for the past five years, it became clear that they were ready to be challenged.
When I was 15, my high school experience was relatively trauma-free. I had my heart broken, I stressed over my grades, I lost friends, but I did not experience the type of emotional trauma that my characters do. One thing that remained constant though, was the idea that my friends and I were special. Our dreams were special and attainable. Our ideas and opinions were valid and important. This type of thinking led my friends and me to realize crazy dreams: pursuing acting careers , opening a theatre company at 13... writing a musical…
It is this idea of pursuing specialness that drives the “Me” generation, and it is the depression following failure to be special that defines that generation. That is what our musical focuses on. We never set out to be a Public Service Announcement for teen suicide. We set out to portray the teenage experience as accurately as possible.
A huge thank you to my incredible partner and composer, Will Finan, whose beautiful music sets the perfect mood. And to Ryan Warren, without whom this musical would never have found its confidence (his three hour phone calls between New York and Sacramento kept Generation ME fresh and on track). I want to thank Shane Alan Bradley and Ryan Blanning as well for their input and help during the developmental stages. Thank you to Simonne Sacco for the use of her talent and equipment. Thank you to all of the tech workers who keep this production professional. Thank you to my parents for supporting this project from the very beginning. And a special thank you to last year’s cast and this year’s cast for creating these characters. Thank you to Kayla, Courtney, Maddie, and John for developing these characters past their humble beginnings and for exploring frightening emotional levels. And a very special thank you to Liam, for constantly inspiring me and blowing me away with his vulnerability and talent. Please enjoy the show.
Julie
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Generation ME combined the unique and varied talents of several volunteers from the FMP and greater Sacramento community. The entire company of GenME would like to thank the following:
- FMP Board members Ryan Warren, Shane Alan Bradley, Julie Soto, Kristin Cunningham, Lindsey Molineaux, & McKinley Carlisle for supporting and believing in this project.
- GenME Band: Will, Jason, Thomas, & Steve!
- GenME Artistic Team: Ryan, Julie, Shane, Monika, Kristin, & Bethany
- Debbie Soto (Ticket Sales)
- Set Building Team: Ted Gardner, Mattias Kayler, Mark Bradley, & Ken Vanderford
- Holly Larson, Sam Coquerille, & Harris Center for the Arts administration and staff.
- Bethany Harris, Trish Silva, Lindsey Molineaux, & Mattias Kayler (Tech)
- Brent & Delaney Bourgeois (Sound)
- Danielle at the Firefly Exchange
- FMP Family & Friends for their support and encouragement.
