You know when you first start thinking about your future and all the wonderful things you might be able to do when you're an adult? As soon as that happens you start coming up with all these ideas. Often times, it's depressing, because you realize you have so much time to wait until that can really happen. Because you're just a kid, and nothing cool happens until you're all grown up.
I don't like waiting.
At all.
My "adult" dreams are of founding and running my own theater company. Cause how awesome would that be? But I didn't want to wait.
So, I didn't.
Last August, I was in the car on some long road- trip with my family when I started thinking...why should I have to wait for my dreams to come true? Why can't I just go out and grab them? I called my friend, Jacqueline, asking if she was interested in pursuing them with me. She was.
And, it's pretty cool.
Jack Attack is kind of a big deal when it comes to the technical side of theater, so, naturally, she was perfect for the job. We pulled our talents together and were actually able to produce something to be proud of. We worked on it for a year. We auditioned a cast, bought the scripts, paid the royalties, booked a venue, put together some costumes, rented lights, built a set, etc. etc. And it turned out pretty darn awesome.
We just had our first production, Celeste Raspanti's I Never Saw Another Butterfly, this past weekend. The cast was incredible. They all took their roles so seriously.
The story was about a Jewish family and group of children living during the Holocaust in the Czech Republic. So, it was a pretty heavy story. The play told the story of Raja, a twelve year old girl who kept hope for the future even as all of her friends and family were being taken away from her. Every once in a while, it would hit us that this actually happened to thousands of children back then, and then we knew why we were doing it. We had to tell this story, for all those who didn't get the chance because their lives were stolen. It kind of put everything into perspective and made us realize how lucky we are to have the lives we have.
Through many tears, hard work, and dedication, we were able to pull off a production to be proud of, and raise quite a bit of money for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say through all of this is- Stop sitting around waiting for your dreams to happen. Make them happen. Now.
