FRIDAY AUGUST 17 Opening night!

We’re here! You have all worked so hard against really bizarre sorts of casting challenges. But I think the cast that appeared onstage last night was absolutely perfect! 

You guys are ready!

Patrick, I think this is the best role you’ve ever done. You’re Stage Manager transcends the boundaries of vintage sentimentality and yet still presents a heart warming tale. That’s a tough job. And you also cover a variety of other characters from all walks of life and even different genders! Bravo!

L.D., Doc Gibbs is subtlety nuanced; he’s open and gregarious with folks on the street, but not nearly as gracious with his own wife. And you still make him a likeable, lovable character. I absolute get lost in the scenes you have with Whitney; they’re too real for words.

Whitney, your eyes communicate so much longing. You barely have to finish the line about Paris and I understand how much that dream means to Mrs. Gibbs. And the body language you use as you putz around your kitchen??? It’s transports a paper-bound Mrs. Gibbs to the depths of a real person with a soul.

Robert, wow! I can’t believe that you just stepped into this role two and a half weeks ago. You’ve had a baptism by fire. And you’re hitting your stride, right on time! The entire cast, me especially, owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you for taking George from the awkward throes of teenage adolescence to a grieving husband who has had his life ripped apart. Very powerful performance.

Peyton, you’re absolutely adorable. Rebecca is a forthright and engaging little sister who has a sense of wonder about everything. You bring that out at EVERY rehearsal! And I have no doubt you’ll now do it at every show.

Jeff, I have seen you push Editor Webb all over that stage! I love the amount of experimentation that you did to capture a time pressed and weary husband who loves his family even though he is trapped in it. Great depth of character there.

Rita, playing Myrtle Webb is tough for any actress. The easy job is to simply make her a nit-picking shrew who nags her family and ignores their emotional needs. But I don’t think that that’s what Wilder was writing. You’ve given us a real woman who has issues and conflicts AND a great deal of love for her family.

Playing Emily Webb is certainly an accomplishment. But Sarah, you’ve created an Emily who is more than just a saccharine sort of ghost who warns us all to take time to smell the roses. You die and say good-bye to the world every single night. I love how you bravely take that plunge! Now you’ll have a chance to take an audience along with you on that journey.

Sam, you go from being an active, adorable boy scout to being dead- what a range! I’m so glad that you’re a part of this show. Keep those pants pulled up at the knee!

Shaun, you have only a few seconds to let the audience fall in love with you before they learn that your character dies before he has a chance to live. It takes a really fine actor to accomplish that. Thank you.

Mario, I just love Howie! You spent a lot of time working on this almost incidental character and made him so believable.  Howie doesn’t just recite lines, he embodies them. And that laugh fest you have with Reid every night about the drunken Poles in the snow? Priceless!

Matt, thank you for making Professor Willard such a character. There are so many ways to interpret this guy; you’ve made him into someone we’ve all known and encountered before, namely that nerdy science geek from chemistry class. The audience all knows someone like this, and they’re going to relate to that onstage.

J, like Robert, you’ve had to just jump into this whole hog. Stimson, as you play him, is a tortured man with demons chasing his soul. The easy way out is to simply play him for laughs as the town drunk. But you dig deeper than that. Thank you.

Michel, you bring Mrs. Soames to a wonderful level. She’s not just a simple gossip. Even though she loves to dish about the people in Grover’s Corners, she also is passionate about her cares and concerns. And she wants to be heard! You make her all of that.

Reid, you tackle two different roles with equanimity. You’ve made Constable Warren a self-important, swaggering cop who also manages to age before our eyes. And your Joe Stoddard is a delicate layering of polite funeral director and concerned clergy. Excellent!

Gia, you’re such a cutie! I love how you’ve learned to scale back your tremendous musical theatre skills into something more nuanced and reality-based. Keep up the good work!

Doug, your Sam Craig is a completely convincing businessman. In your performance, I see a man who parlays a business trip into possible new leads, and then into a home coming, and finally into a true episode of grief as he confronts his own mortality. All that in just two or three pages!

Emily, you’re a true ensemble member. You’ve read in for other actors who couldn’t make rehearsal, you’ve taken those small parts and made them perfectly real and genuine, and you’ve done it all consistently every night. I love listening to you ask about drinking every night. I hear the concern and just a little bit of self righteousness from this teetotaler who sits in the back every night!

Sophia, you’re also a trouper. You have a small role in this show, but you’ve shown that you have a real heart for theatre in making every small moment count. Continue making those small moments into much bigger ones.

Estus, you have graced our stage. And I mean that in all sincerity! Without you, our pack of baseball players would be immeasurably diminished and our school kids lacking that extra spark!

And Desi, I would like to have lunch with your Artistic-Lady-in-the-Box. Just that one line, and you’ve created someone who has life and depth and reality. 

This show would never have made it this level without the hard work and commitment of our AD, Katie. It has been a complete pleasure to partner with you on this show and I can't thank you enough for your innumerable contributions to the staging and directing of Our Town. 

I woke up with this tune in my head; watch and enjoy. See you all at 6:00.