Summer of Joy

We called it the Summer of Joy and WOW!, we got lucky. It happened onstage and off, for us, the audiences, the cast, crew, creatives, and staff. Karen and I have been part of the Depot Theatre in Westport, NY in varying capacities for over 20 years. I've acted, directed, mixed sound, served on the Board to name a few. Karen has been the Snack Captain, artistic advisor, curated readings, among other roles she's taken on over the years. 2024 was our first season ever to run the Artistic arm completely -- choosing shows, directors, designers, casting, etc. We love to bring artists together. It's important to nurture and foster people's growth as human beings and artists. Working in a rural community, making theatre in a train station with very little money, means hiring and casting super talented people who are down for creating theatre, having fun, and working on their craft at the same time in this environment. Was it exhausting for us? Yeah. Was it satisfying 99% of the time. Oh, yeah. Would we do it again? Absolutely. Would our artists do it again? They said they would! The beautiful faces above contributed mightily to the joy and success of the summer -- from L to R, Tiara Whaley (brought immense talent and love to both Rodeo Girl in Analog & Vinyl; Prudie in Pump Boys & Dinettes); Lydya Feliz (PA/ASM for the entire summer -- rose to every challenge with grace and ease); Chavon Patterson (Co. Mgr. who took care of our actors and creatives with such love and generosity); Aja Downing (electrified audiences as Satan in Analog & Vinyl); and Peter Corley (created the complex lead Harrison in Analog & Vinyl with depth and beauty). There were many more amazing folx that contributed to our success. It's impossible to overstate the love I have for the artists above and every single artist that we worked with throughout the season. Collaboration is my favorite thing about theatre. All those hearts and minds coming together to create -- it's the best team sport there is. Our winning is when everyone leaves the theatre feeling good (joy maybe!) about the exchange, the communication that just happened LIVE on stage. There's nothing like it. It's weird and wonderful to come together in a dark space and share a story. It's also a privilege and an honor to be able to do it and do it with people that are fantastic human beings onstage and off. If you're reading this, I hope that you get to experience this level of joy in the theatre in any capacity in your lifetime. It may likely change your life.