playbill vip

Director's Note

I've had a difficult time putting into words all that this show has meant to our cast. I thought about borrowing lines from Shrek, saying this show is like an ONION, that it’s got layers. I thought about reminding us all to Let our FREAK FLAG FLY, but we've been doing THAT in SL Drama for years! I thought about mentioning a few standout individuals, like how incredible it has been to work with a student designer who really is a creative artist or how our green hero has triumphed at every opportunity. I thought I could use a cliche and say how it takes a village to put on a musical like this, and that this show, more than any other in our history, displays the work of Art, Music, and Tech Ed students and teachers in collaboration with more than 25 SL faculty/staff involved on or backstage. I could mention how cool it is for us to have our young children in the cast, because many of us have been doing these shows together since before we HAD children, or, EEK, when some of our colleagues were our students! I could hammer home that this show really is about creating a world where all are valued for their unique gifts and how that is exactly what we try to do here at Silver Lake.

BUT, I think what I really want to share is the 'Shrek Hashtag' white board that the students have created in the music room. This has been added to almost daily since auditions. Maybe you can tell from this display how invested this cast is in this show. Maybe you can tell how clever these students are, and how naturally they play off and also support one another.  Maybe you can tell that that we laugh a lot, and that we are completely committed to a common goal. Maybe you can tell that we value creativity and self expression. Maybe you can tell that we celebrate each other's successes (and goof ups!). Maybe you can tell how much we really love to be a part of this, how much we really love each other. Or maybe it won't translate at all. Hashtag what???? And in that case, you'll just have to trust me when I say that we have LOVED this show!

Thank you to all involved for telling this updated fairy tale.  

Beautiful ain't always pretty, but you sure are beautiful to me!