A Note From the Director...
What a great way to welcome spring! Me & My Girl seemed to me to be the perfect choice for the talents of these amazing seniors. It also lets us feature the rest of our devoted Phils and our newest “discoveries,” too. A half dozen new 8th and 9th grade gents – what a blessing! Throughout this pandemic the Phils have continuedto practice and produce their art forms, whether that be on stage or behind the scenes. I am so very proud of this cast, crew, and creative team. I want to thank each and every one of them for being a part of this show and this program; your commitment and devotion to the Phils is inspiring, and I am humbled and grateful to be your leader. I look forward to a strong future for the Phils here on campus and beyond.
I do need to single out one person, however, a person without whom a dance show featuring this much tap could not have happened. Our choreographer, Mr. Kenneth J. Beck, ’79 and I have known each other since 1985, when I appeared as Fruma Sarah in Fiddler on the Roof as a freshman at Loyola and he was a bottle-dancer. Our paths crossed once in a while, and then, in 2002, we teamed up as director & choreographer to produce Oklahoma! He was so prepared and got such amazing performances out of the students! Now, it’s been 20 years and more than 30 productions, and I’ve had the privilege of being directed by him myself. I am so thankful and have learned so much during our decades of collaboration. Through all of the trials and tribulations we have each had in our personal lives of late, he has come through for me and for the Phils, and I am humbled.
It is wonderful to have a creative team who supports and challenges me and who challenges the Phils to be better and to do better. It is wonderful to have parents who volunteer their time and alumni their support and the trust of administration. This has been a tough time for the arts. Many programs are suffering. The Phils challenged themselves despite disappointments and heartaches and “the shows that never were*”; they challenged themselves to continue to find hope and joy in their art. We never stopped! We produced and performed on Zoom, in the courtyard, in masks, and on stage.
Thank you, our audience, for watching us on Zoom, for sitting in our auditorium wearing masks and keeping distant; for laughing, crying, dreaming, and thinking along with us. You are the reason we do this; we seek that beautiful connection between performer, playwright, producer, and audience. It is both a human connection and a spiritual connection. And we need those more than ever now.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” I’ve written of this before, and this quote from Teddy Roosevelt continues to be my mantra. Thank you for sharing our joy! And thank you for supporting the entertainment industry arts.
Stay well!
Kate Arthurs-Goldberg, M.A.
Director, Jesuit Philelectic Society
*Be sure to note the Scottish Ancestor in our production of Me & My Girl ... wearing the groom’s full kilt that was to be for Brigadoon, plus a red beard; it was just too nice a costume not to put on stage and give a nod to that lovely production that wasn’t.
This show is dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Carol Beck.
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon her.
