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A Letter from Mr. Owens - Friday, April 10, 2009
Is the musical really over? Don’t be so sure.

I remember the first PTDG musical that my kids were involved in. I was assigned to be the back stage / hall monitor, it was the Friday night show of the second week, about 30 minutes before curtain. A group of six or seven girls, all huddled up in a ball came down the hall towards me, sobbing. I thought “Oh NO” one of the leads has broken a leg, or lost their voice, or a set collapsed and it can’t be fixed in time!! I approached the group and said, What’s wrong?, What has happened??? I was ready for anything,, then a crying voice from inside the pack said, “After tonight’s show, there is only tomorrow and then musical is OVER er er er, and the crying volume increased, I remember saying that I would speak to Mrs. Rubright about adding six more weekends to the show and I slowly backed away.

It all starts out when your son or daughter comes home from school one day and say’s “Hey guess what! I tried out for the musical and I got a part!”. Well, we all know that the next few months involve long hours, sore muscles, tired eyes and endless rehearsals. Then begins the learning of lines, learning to sing songs, dance steps, learning how to act, how to react, in some cases how to act up! Every member of the cast and crew becomes part of a team, each one is counted on to do his or her part, say the line at the right time, move a set, open the curtain, throw the spot light, adjust a microphone, help change a costume or hand off a prop, every single person takes on a serious responsibility, and when show time comes all of the hard work pays off and the result is always a first class show, that seems to get better every year.

A Letter from Mr. Owens Part 2 - Friday, April 10, 2009
It all ends at the Lamplighter with awards, dinner and dancing… or does it? As I watched the students present awards to each other, this is where the acting ends and the real emotion begins. As they start to read the poems and tributes to the departing seniors there is hugging and crying. As I watched this year’s cast and crew it made me realize something, something important.

My oldest son did fall play and musical only one time, in his senior year, and he also danced at the Lamplighter with his cast mates, he has now graduated from college and is married, in his wedding, his best man and both groomsmen were his three best friends, he met all three of them during fall play and musical.

The same is true for my daughters, almost all of their closest friends are all people that they did the shows with, it has been so long ago for us, we just sort of forgot where it all started, but seeing it all happen again at this years banquet just brought it all back to me

The bonds that are formed during musical are real. It takes a long time to grow old friends and I believe that the friendships that began this year will grow for many years to come.

So the performances of Seussical have ended, but the memories of this show will stay with the students for many years to come, they will go every direction that the wind blows after graduation, and one day they will send an e-mail or pick up a phone to call one of their castmates, and whether they are far or near, they will get a response saying “ We are here……we are here”.

Rob Owens
rawbonz@mac.com

Photo Link - Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Here is the link to Mr. Owens' Photo Page. In order to view these pictures, please refer to the email you probably received with the username and password. If you did not receive this email and are part of the drama guild or are a parent, feel free to email me (contact page) or ask Mrs. Rubright for the information! Thank you very much Mr. Owens for the wonderful photography!!