For the Love of Theater.

"on behalf of all of those theatre educators i'd like to say thanks... to all of you who put aside your needs for the good of the show. and thanks to all of you who conned your best friend into trying out for the show because we needed more boys. or skipped gym to help paint the set. or got so frustrated during rehearsal that you thought about walking out forever, and came back because you knew it was the right thing. thanks to all of you who went to home depot at 11 p.m. to get the 1 1/2-inch casters. or went to cvs an hour before the show to get safety pins and 9 volt batteries. or struggled at rehearsal with a dance step, but kept on smiling and moving your feet. or brought brownies to rehearsal. special thanks to all of you who saw the costume, hated it, said nothing and wore it anyway. thanks to all of you who thanked the techs and the orchestra after a rehearsal. thanks to you who comforted someone backstage. thanks to you who saw the cast list, found your name somewhere on the list of townspeople and said, 'i'm going to make this the best mrs. townsperson i can.' thanks to you who came to that endless rehearsal when all your friends were hanging out. or fought through a calendar thick with sat prep and ap review and music lessons and family events and sports practices to be at rehearsal — because you knew it was too important to miss. and thanks to those of us who cry at the end of the closing-night performance because it was all so exhausting and so inspiring and so frustrating and so wonderful that something deep inside knew that this is truth and this is meaning and this is a living dream. the good news is that it doesn't end. all of it stays with you — it stayed with me, and my dear colleagues... and what of those who sing in choirs, or simply sing their children to sleep — this is a magical art form...who knows? maybe some day musical scores will have the same value as test scores! hold on to those dreams…"