Here we are. Usually, this note would be in the program. However, I had a few minutes this morning, and I wanted to be sure to somehow get the message out to everyone in this strange year. We are two days from the show! I am simultaneously excited and also trying to remember if I've finished everything.
I want to thank Aiden Bettwieser for all his incredible work and Asher Bettwieser, too. They were the two young men that made the set a reality. They continue to finish the loose ends and are almost finished with the set entirely as of last evening. Aiden's knowledge of sound and mixing/recording was also utilized when the kids recorded on April 3rd. Hours of mixing later, he is the man responsible for the beautiful vocal tracks we have of your children. He also gave an entire Saturday to lighting cues and design. There are not enough words of thanks and kudos for an 18-year-old to have devoted so much of his time to this production. As a family friend and a former teacher, I cannot even say enough good about him and his knowledge of pretty much everything theater. A true renaissance man if ever there was one. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Aiden!
I would also like to thank Cassandra North, who I knew was a special young lady the second I met her. Her smile lights up a room, and her energy is seemingly neverending. The kids have been so fortunate. I have been so lucky to work with her the last six months in preparation and in directing and choreographing this year's musical. Cass has volunteered countless hours to this production. I appreciate her expertise in choreography as much as I have enjoyed it and thank her for all her help to make this show a reality. It has been an odd year, to be sure, and she has helped more than I have adequate words to express. Thank you, Cass, for everything you have done and continue to do to make this show a reality and the success I believe it will be!
I would be remiss not to thank Leslie Rench and Rosemary Whitman, who, every year tirelessly and without fail, manage to clothe all the kids for the stage. They make the magic of color, and the whole picture come together! Thank you for your friendship, your shoulders, your time, your imagination, and your ever-present determination to make the show(s) beautiful! I love you both, always!
Lastly, but not least, I would like to thank each family and your kids, the students that make these shows happen! Your willingness to drive for drop-offs and pick-ups, your flexibility and understanding when things change on the fly, and allowing Saturday-frigid-morning recordings at the start of April made this show possible. Everything you have done and will do in the coming days is so very appreciated, so thank you for being a big part of why I have come back for nearly two decades. Thank you for sharing your children with me and for trusting me to lead these productions. It is as always an honor, indeed! Stresses are par for the course, but the smiles on the faces, even behind their masks, are why I do what I do.
If ever there was a year where the words to our final song mirror my sentiments, "we're all in this together," surely this is it! This past year has been a challenge for so many, for many different reasons. Your resilience and determination to help us get back to performing gave us all some of the "normalcy" we were, I was, longing to be a part of again! Thank you all. It has been a joy! ENJOY SHOW!
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