Wow

Directing is usually about compromise.

You start off by imagining everything that a show could be. You fantasize about all of the wonderful possibilities that the script and music offer. You play the cast recordings over and over and over, letting the visual images wash through your mind, and you grab onto the ones that are fantastic and colorful and spectacular. You start describing or sketching out what the elements will look like, how they will make the audience feel. And then once all that wonderful stuff is loaded onto your palette, you begin to arrange it into a vision of what the show will be.

"Stop. This is the beginning."

But then you have to start compromising. You start worrying about budget and space issues and budget and technical constraints and availability of people and more budget and calendars... it's maddening. That's when some of the stuff starts to get taken off of the palette. That's when the shape and complexity of some of the stuff starts to change on the palette.

Then, there's more compromising. You welcome the artists and craftspeople who will be presenting this vision to the audience, your cast and crew, into the mix to share and evolve the vision of the show. Again the things on the palette begin to change. But now, sometimes they actually get knocked off the edge. Sometimes new things randomly fall on the palette.

By the time you get to this point in a show, all of that wonderful stuff you imagined and dreamed of typically constitutes about 40% of the content of the show that is presented to the ocean of family and friends on opening night. The conversation Afterwards is nice and happy and filled with pleasant but bland comments like "Yeah, it was good!" and "It was such a great show!" When pressed for what their favorite parts were, they will instinctively force a polite smile, look to the upper right of their head, searching for a thought, and then will begin to rattle off most of the more memorable components, trying hard not to open the program for factual back-up.

You in the mean time are left with a 60% deficit of your original creative vision, and a slightly hollow shell of a show you'd dreamed of.

Usually, but not this time.

If I were to gauge how much of my original vision was in the finished product, there's no question that it is a solid 100%, and that is thanks to the dedication and talent of everyone involved. What's even better is that I was also able to incorporate and accommodate the visions of those involved as well.

This show just blows me away. It wasn't until last night's preview performance that I realized it. We've actually done it: we've put together a production that breaks the mold not only of previous productions of Godspell, but also the perception of what "community theatre" is. I can't wait for tonight's performance to slough off the directorial mantle further and be truly affected by the show. I'll have my family and friends with me, and I'll also be able to see the show through their eyes, particularly the kids. I can't wait!

Oh, and today is my 15th wedding anniversary to my loving and lovely wife Marya. Happy Anniversary, honey, and thanks for letting me achieve this. It's a wonderful gift you've given to me that I can now share with the rest of the world.

Please, please, please spread the word about this production!

- Sean