playbill vip

It feels particularly odd to write a director’s note for this piece, as this show, more than anything I’ve directed, doesn’t belong to me. Extenuating circumstances with my own baby story forced me into becoming a distanced director for the final month of rehearsals. And yet, the show goes on. With a group of students like this, there was never any doubt that the proverbial curtain would rise on this beautiful story.

Bright Star is about looking for the light in the darkness. Despite an endless barrage of curveballs, this cast and crew has consistently done exactly that. Their resilience and flexibility in the face of adversity is astonishing. Sophomores and freshmen became dance captains, stage managers stepped into directorial shoes, and everyone worked together as an ensemble to ensure that the show goes on and that the sun does indeed shine again.

While we would love to present this show to you all live, what we do have is a film capturing a bunch of steadfast students working together to tell a story from the sunshine of the park. Its simplicity is what makes it beautiful. It’s a show stripped of theatrical accessories until all that is left is the heart of the story and the students telling it.

Early in the rehearsal process, I would often tell the cast that knowing their voices were the first my baby would ever hear was just about the best gift ever. While I never want to miss a chunk of rehearsals like this again, I cannot blame my little one for trying to make an early entrance when the world he is entering is filled with these amazing thespians and humans. An environment formed by a group of kids who are so undeniably supportive, intoxicatingly kind, and passionate as they sing out a story of optimism amongst some of the darkest of times we have all faced...who wouldn’t want to be, especially after our shared experience of living with and through a pandemic, a part of that?

Now more than ever, I’d like to thank you for supporting theatre at RPA. We hope that you enjoy this show from the comfort of your homes and we cannot wait to greet you in our theater again one day soon.

K. Torcom

RPA Theatre Director