February 29, 2008

• Reflection

  Being as much of a fan of the double entendre as I am, the title of this blog made me smile a little...

  Today is opening day for Mulan, and so I figured it was an appropriate time to share a story or two about how exactly this show came to be. As Joe knows well, and a few other people may be familiar with, these shows used to be passed down. The directors would identify the two people they felt were best suited to handle the process, and they would simply hand down the show. I had the good fortune of being the final product of that particular system. Joe and Christina chose Martin and I as the next team. Little did I know that there was significant unrest among the adult production team concerning the student-directed production. I still remember the various reactions I received when I began to speak with different adults about the production. Several of them were downright rude, stating simply that they had no interest in continuing the student production, and so I really should just forget about it. One of them told me very clearly that the tradition of passing the production down was going to be stopped, and so if the adults felt that we were appropriate for the job, then maybe they would consider doing another small production.

  More suggestions were made; at one point, a few people began to suggest that we cast a small drama with a cast of 4 or 5 and do a "black box theatre" in the recital hall. Well, if you know me, you know I didn't even think about doing that. Eventually, I persuaded the "powers that be" to buy into the idea. I sent a long and comprehensive production plan over, I found people willing to make a commitment to what we needed, and I just kept believing that this could be a success. I'm not trying to make myself out as the savior here, but I really think the adults were sick and tired of this student involvement.

  Well, the production happened, and I knew from the moment it ended that no one from the adult side wanted to do it again. I received a few congratulations, a few hugs and then it was done. I never received a single point of extra credit in Choir for it, and Tim clearly didn't care about all of the hard work; I was rewarded with an obsolete and useless part in High School Musical. However, in my mind, the experience and the incredible feeling of accomplishment and success that I enjoyed during the run of the show was too incredible to simply allow it to die out with my show. So I decided to try and chose my successors. I already knew that if the production was to occur next year, the adults would be choosing the team who took it on. However, I figured I could still attempt to sway things a little bit, at the very least. Around February, I spoke with Kelly once or twice about whether she would be interested in directing the show her senior year. I didn't know much about her; all I knew is that she had come from another school and supposedly had a significant amount of theatre experience. I knew she was friendly and likable; and not even in the other "likable" way; that was still a little bit down the road =]. I also knew that Andrew seemed to be a good person to be involved in some way; he was artistic, which was something we were drastically lacking in the theatre department. We could all sing and dance, but ask us to draw anything, and you would get crickets from top to bottom.

  In the end, the choice that was made had nothing to do with me. I was there when the choice was made, but only because I had asked the right people at the right time. They wanted nothing to do with me, and they had no interest in my opinions. That did sting a little bit; I felt like I had earned more then that. Apparently not, though. However, the team that was chosen was ideal. They combined the two teams and brought their talents in different areas together. I'm not going to lie; at the time, I thought it was a terrible idea. I warmed up to it as time went by, and now I feel that the adult team made a very wise choice. I am excited for the show.

  However, I do want to say one thing. Ms. Garvis made a very interesting point when I was talking with her the other day. She made the point that what the adult production team really loves to do is leave everything in the show to students. They praise the students for their initiative and organizational skill, and then when the time comes (as it always does) where one student-run aspect of the show realizes that it is in over its theoretical head (or theatrical head, if you pardon the pun), they love to swoop in and "come to the rescue," when they really should have been offering guidance from the outset of the production. She is absolutely correct in that notion. I'm not in the business of mentioning names here without proper evidence to support my claims (I don't write for the Bowie Blade, after all), so I won't go down that road. However, suffice it to say that with Aladdin and with Mulan, the students were not the only people to drop the ball on elements of responsibility. The adult team simply stood by and watched as certain things went wrong, and then once they realized that it was probably time to play Superman, they cruised in and made everything better. You won't ever hear them admit it, but its the truth, and they won't ever let you forget it. With Aladdin, I am constantly reminded, however subtly, by those powers who made significant contributions to my show.

  I desperately want to see this show continue to thrive. I'm sick and tired of everyone saying that "there won't be a show next year." Unless Mrs. Minor suddenly decides to: A) Cut the size of her Chamber Choir in half, or B) Start going to festivals in Annapolis or Baltimore, there will be a need for the money generated from this show. As I have said before, Aladdin made nearly 10,000 dollars when it was all said and done. I, however, paid full price for San Diego and received a B in choir that quarter, because I was sick the day of our major notebook check. I'm not bitter one tiny bit about the money aspect of it; money had absolutely nothing to do with why I directed that show, and that is the absolute truth. I loved the fact that the money was going towards the scholarships for other people in choir who wanted to go on the trip but couldn't. However, what it proves is that this second show is needed. As long as the trips keep getting bigger and the cost of going places keeps going up, there will be a need for the additional revenue produced by these shows. It just angers me to see such arrogance on the part of these adults. Yes, they can put together an incredible show. Peter Pan was excellent, High School Musical was... well, we won't go there, and Once Upon A Mattress was superb. However, their arrogance is growing old.

  It is for that very reason that I find myself incredibly proud of Kelly, Carl and Andrew. I had nothing to do with their success; I'm simply the sound engineer (and occasionally Kelly's personal cheerleader, without skirt and pom-poms). However, they have truly done this themselves. They have taken each aspect of the show and handed it to a student, and most of those areas have been wildly successful, save for one or two. I am so incredibly grateful for that. This is truly a show by the students. There are a few adults that were essential to the process, but guess what? When you see the show tonight, there won't be any adults involved. All the people on stage are students; all the tech crew are students; all of the booth crew and spot crew are students. Even a fair amount of the staff for the center itself will be students. This show should serve as ice to the face of those adults who were sleeping in their own publicity, and exemplifies what students can do.

  To conclude, go see Mulan. It's going to be a wildly successful example of why no school in the county or state can rival the scale at which Bowie High treats our theatre. More importantly though, it will be an example of what students can do.

  Performances are this weekend and next weekend; Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 2:30.

  Break a leg!

  • 11:55 AM
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