As a theatre teacher, I dreamed of the day I was able to collaborate with students on a beautiful, touching story that moves audiences to unite in our shared humanity. I can honestly say this dream has come true for me.
When I first saw “Bright Star” with my husband on Broadway, it was snowing in the streets of NYC. We had just come from seeing a matinee of another production, and decided to take a chance on this new Steve Martin and Edie Brickell musical. Two and a half hours later, I was transformed. I vividly remember leaving the theatre breathless, not because of the cold air that suddenly hit my lungs, but because of the beauty, complexity, and care with which Alice’s journey had been shared with all of us, the audience. The company told this story as if it were a precious gift being carefully unwrapped for all 1500 patrons to enjoy collectively. I knew in that moment that it was only a matter of time before I could share this same gift with my community back home.
In 2016, I approached Jim Hoare of TRW about the possibility of piloting “Bright Star” as a school edition when he came to visit our school with the production of “Ghost: The Musical”. At that time TRW had just acquired the licensing for the production and over the course of the next two years a strong relationship was formed between Rock Ridge and TRW as we continued doing our best to honor their stories. When the producers agreed to finally release the royalties for high schools across the country, we were thrilled when Jim asked us to premiere the school edition of “Bright Star”.
Like a jolt of lightning, the company was electrified. Understanding that we needed to make this show accessible to schools across the country, we aspired to ground the designs, transitions, costumes, and company in a way that would open up this beautiful story for high schools with limited budgets, time, and resources. As beautiful as the original Broadway designs were for this production, including a spinning band stand and a traveling train across the proscenium, we knew that not all high schools have the access or ability to produce those designs. So together, with the help of our students’ creativity and ingenuity, we worked as a team to honor the original production but make it uniquely our own.
This production began for us back in May 2018 with an exciting prospect. From there we held auditions and the students got to work in September. We situated this production in our Dual Enrollment Theatre Course and met every other day for 90 minutes. Amidst our productions of “Shrek” and “9 to 5”, the “Bright Star” company has overcome some pretty insurmountable challenges these last few months. Whether we faced tech rehearsals and hundreds of hours for load-in cancelled by snow or flu viruses or the end of semester due dates or a nasty bout of mono that swept through the company, there is one thing this production has taught us all: with determination, fortitude, and perseverance anything is possible. Tonight, it is with gratitude and joy that we embrace Alice’s spirit and begin carefully unwrapping our gift for you - “Bright Star”.
-Inspiritu
Mr. Cimino-Johnson
***A NOTE ABOUT RRPA: Rock Ridge Performing Arts, established in 2014, is a general public high school and not a magnet school. The students with their dedication and hard work coupled with a giving fine arts team work together to tell and honor story the best way they know how, through theatre.