Creating the Anniversary Gala, Part 1

The funny thing is, the first idea I had for the celebration of our 10^th season at FlynnSpace was the very last image of the evening.

When I think about how this last nine years has even been possible, the first thing that comes to mind is the incredible amount of help we've received.

Of course there's been the generosity of our audience, all those thousands of people who have purchased tickets and made contributions. But the biggest acts of generosity have come from the artists who have given so much time and energy and talent to Vermont Stage and received so little compensation in return.

So the first idea I had for the Gala was to find a way to honor those individuals, to give them the public recognition they so richly deserve, and so I thought, wouldn't it be cool if we could get every actor, every designer and director, every technician and staff member who has ever worked at FlynnSpace with us to come to the show, and at the end of the evening, I would bring them all up on stage for one big curtain call. More than one hundred theatre artists on stage at one time, taking a bow, being honored for their service to Vermont Stage. That's the way I want to end the evening.

I have my ending. Good. Now, what does the rest of the evening look like?

P.S. If you're one of these artists, and we haven't contacted you yet, please get in touch - you're invited to a show!

August 10th, 2009