playbill vip

Director's Notes

I have always loved musical theatre.  It is a celebration of joy, and tugs on heart strings in ways that no other form quite does.  I have always found that it brings cast, crew, and audience together in an amazing way.

Covid certainly has thrown all of this for a loop.  We aren't able to have our full cast together and, of course, we have to go without a live audience.  However Mainstage is full of fantastic and motivated students who want to perform, learn, and grow.  They have all done just that in this fantastic 20 year revue.

Mainstage has a long and rich history at Magee.  The actors and crew who have been a part of this program have left it with higher and higher standards to uphold for the subsequent years.  This year has been no exception.  The actors have had to learn to play multiple characters in nine different stories and in different genres.  The crew has had to learn how to work through all the technical elements of a show that will look good on video - and then learn how to video it all and edit it together!  I am so fortunate to have such amazing students and am so impressed at their work.

This year's students are so lucky to work with two professionals in their fields: Ken Overbey and Jeremy Hoffman.  They have found ways of bringing out the best in our students in a vastly shortened, and often online, timeline.  I wish to extend my sincerest thanks to them for all that they contribute to this program.

We have been ever so fortunate at Magee to have an incredible parent community which comes together to build set and costumes, find props, and run the front of house.  They have been sorely missed this year as Covid protocols meant that we could not bring in our amazing parent group.  Once again, our students have stepped up into these roles - you will find on the crew page a number of students who have stepped into these spaces and made our work stronger.  

Because Covid never let last year's wonderful show Freaky Friday get to its performance, we have created a montage of the pictures that were taken before Spring Break last year.  I wish that I could have found a way to bring back each of you who had a well-deserved standing ovation taken from you.

The task of putting a show together that honoured the past work of Mainstagers, their parents, as well as the memories from all the audiences has been monumental.  Our students wanted nothing more than to pay tribute to the amazing work that inspired them to join the program.

I was lucky enough to be trained as a teacher by Donna Welstein, Michael Green, and Theresa Webber - the pillars of Mainstage.  Mainstage was brought to Magee by Donna and Michael in 2000, with the first big show happening 20 years ago.  Their tradition of excellence was upheld by Theresa.  I feel the gravitas of treading in their footsteps this year more than ever.  I hope that they can see the love and gratitude for their work in the numbers they worked so hard on throughout their time at Magee. 

To the current Mainstagers, I hope you are so proud of what you have accomplished in the face of a global pandemic.  You have created one amazing show.

To all our past Mainstage members - be they cast, crew, parents, audience, professionals, or teachers - I hope you can see something of your own Mainstage journey in this Revue.  
To all our audiences, I hope you still feel the joy, and have your heart strings pulled a little through the storytelling of our wonderful performers.  

Meghan Byrne