In September my husband, Joseph, and I moved to New York City so that I could begin a graduate program in Performing Arts Administration at NYU. My goal is to arm myself with as much education and experience as possible so that we can follow our dream of launching a theater company in Rockledge, Florida, Joseph’s hometown. One of the first pieces of assigned reading during my first semester was a 2003 New York Times article about the Stonington Opera House. I was thrilled to see that these women were successfully doing something very similar to what I hope to accomplish in Florida. I knew I needed to meet these women and come to Stonington and after a few emails, and a lunch we were on our way.
Neither of us had spent much time in New England before moving to New York and this was our first time venturing out of the city. Naturally, we were swept away with the magic of the island. It was a cold and dreary weekend but that only added to the depth of its beauty. And then there was the Opera House. Despite the cold and the wet, more than 100 people showed up to support their friends and neighbors for “All Shorts,” a festival of short plays written and directed by community members. The dawning realization that this place was so much more than a theater, so much more than just art, was invigorating. This is a community and it is important to people. We knew we could learn here if we could, for a short time, become a part of this community.
So here we are. Joseph, a scenic designer, has been working 12-14 hour days as he assists in creating sets for three full productions in just under seven weeks. I’ve been welcomed into the fold of the administrative office where I become exhausted just watching the unstoppable Linda Nelson work. We are learning more than we could have hoped for about make a theater company go in a small town. We are learning what it takes to “Incite Art. Create Community.”
No comments:
Post a Comment