playbill vip

From The Director’s Chair…

“No!”   “Why?”

These are the two statements from my mom when I told her that we were producing A Christmas Story this fall. You see, in my family A Christmas Story was never a favorite. My mom and dad would tolerate it on Christmas Eve while my Uncle Patrick and Aunt Pam raved about it, but we never tuned in when we got home. So, I can’t say that I picked the show because I loved the movie.

I picked the show because I know it is a favorite of so many. I knew I could learn to like it. The script allowed our students to do somethings they don’t usually get to do…be goofy, be silly, play cute, and for many of them play younger. So often in the fall we concentrate on serious things in our theatre performances, but this show has been a breath of fresh air.  I also looked at the show with the idea that we are all more alike than different. Most moms and dads are doing the best they can from day to day and kids of all ages have dreams and fantasies. Often we forget or take for granted those times when mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/aunt/uncle’s best combine with our dreams and make a magical moment.

I hope that Ralphie’s simple wish for his Red Ryder BB Gun will remind you of something that you have wished for, even had day dreams about. I hope that his quest will remind you of a time when you had to fully give yourself over to someone else’s goodwill. I hope as 2019 comes to a close, we can all slow down and be grateful for the people, not just the things, in our lives.

And that’s how I see things…

From The Director’s Chair,

J. Harvey Stone