Director's Notes
Usually, I try to fill these notes with wit and wisdom and clever bumper stickers for you to take home with you. But all I can really think to say is thank you. Perhaps I'm just too tired to think of something good, but really I'm just overcome with gratitude and pride.
I am grateful to the team I am lucky enough to work with. Kari Armstrong, Bennett Stucky and David Lonowski are brilliant artists and do all the heavy lifting on these productions. Thanks to Sierra and Eliot for breathing new life and energy into this show. Thanks to the PHS music department: these educators are working miracles with students and don't get nearly enough credit or recognition. Thanks to Price at CSU Theatre for lending us Lili and Doster: projections superstars! (and several thousand dollars worth of equipment!)
Thanks to the administration and staff of PHS, who still see value in an arts education, in spite of prevalent opinions. Thanks for encouraging our students to dare and dream.
I am grateful to the community of parents, many of them brand new to Poudre Theatre, who supported the production with snacks, meals, home projects, and generous donations. Thank you for making this possible. Just a few more days and I'll give you your kids back!
Thank you to my seniors. You don't realize how much you give to this program, and to me. You have provided leadership and encouragement to a very young, very new cast and crew. You are the lesson and the legacy. It's too soon to say good bye, but I feel an ache already.
Thank you to the new students who decided to take a chance, take a risk, and try something new. I am awed by your bravery and excited to see where you will take this company. Thank you for choosing your show.
Thanks always to my wife Melanie and my children, Jackson and Taryn. You are my strength, my heart, and my inspiration. I'll be home soon, I promise!
Let me wrap up this rather self-indulgent Tony-win-speech by thanking you, the audience. We managed to keep the lights on last year without you, but it wasn't really the same. Thank you for coming out and supporting these amazing students. Thank you for giving us a tiny bit of normal back. Thank you for reminding us of our purpose and our passion. We've missed you so much.
JS
October 2021
