While it’s great to be back at the ol’ alma mater, it’s bittersweet to see my nephew in his last HS play. He’s got a musical in the spring that my niece will do as well, but it all went by so fast and covid literally ate two years of indoor performance for their school. Hope it was worth it. But let’s get right into the play. To say that my nephew killed it, is a bit of a redundancy if you followed his EHS theatre career- dude always kills it. I had a front row seat, (even though I sat in the back and took pics and vid), for the whole thing and I don’t even have words to express how proud I am. Whatever he does next, I truly can’t wait. To think that I have been an influence is at the top of my list for things that bring me great joy.
I also can’t say enough about the play. “She Kills Monsters” was not something I knew anything about before this Fall. It takes place in the 90s and for that alone I was intrigued. Nick literally wore a version the Nirvana t-shirt that I have had since those days. The humor was on point, The Gap, Easy Cheese… and a thing called Dungeons and Dragons. I didn’t play DnD but I have covered dozens and dozens of Com-icons, Festivals, Renaissance Faires, etc over the years to have a deep, deep appreciation for cosplay and role-playing games, of which, Dungeons and Dragons is grand-daddy of them all. The play is about a freshman that passes away and her older more popular older sister discovers her world by playing a DnD adventure that her sister left. Nick plays “Chuck” the dungeon master— that narrates and unfolds that adventure. (For those that do not know, that’s basically what DND is— a Dungeon Master unfolds and adventure and the character in the game make choices and decisions. In the process the living sister, Agnes, learns a lot about her deceased sister Tillie and even more about herself…
Here are some photos from the play.
Finally, Finally– big thank you to the cast and crew of EHS for a great production. This last paragraph is for all of you. It was not lost on me that my own High School career started right in that theater. “Look to your left, Look to your right, forward and back– ONE of you won’t make it” is how a tiny school principal with a Napoleon complex began that scare tactic of an orientation all those moons ago… Turns out he was kinda right, but not in the way I thought back then, and definitely not in the way the speaker/doomsayer meant… he meant graduating. But what I have learned since those days many more than his simple math– don’t “make it.” Life, work, the world, swallows people up. They forget their hopes, they forget their dreams… they settle for the lesser,. It begins as “just this one time”– but then it’s another time… and another… and then one more, promising THIS will be the last time– and then the shining star that I see in each and every one of you when I attend your plays and musicals? Diminishes.
Don’t let that happen. These productions that you’ve been a part of in the theater department all have a common thread. They are stories of people having a dream/desire/want– very often against great odds– believing in themselves and making those dreams come true. For me, at its core that’s what theater teaches, and why it’s so important. It’s been my privilege to watch all of you perform with my niece and nephew all these years and even as a person more than twice your ages– I still leave inspired when I see you bring these stories to life. You inspire me. Keep inspiring others and don’t be afraid to follow your dreams…
Tony
