NOT MY WORDS, BUT ALL THE SAME

Dancing in the backyard
Kool-aid moustache and butterfly wings
Hearing Andrea McArdle sing
From the hi-fi in the den
I've been waiting my whole life
To find a way back to then

I aimed for the sky
A nine-year-old can see so far
I'll conquer the world and be a star
I'll do it all by the time I'm ten
I would know that confidence
If I knew a way back to then

So I bailed on my hometown
And became a college theatre dork
I was eastbound and down
Moving to New York
So I crammed my life in a U-Haul
To find my part of it all

But the mundane sets in
We play by the rules
And plough through the days
The years take us miles away
From the time we wondered when
We'd find a way back to then

And when you least expect
Opportunity walks through the door
You suddenly connect
With the thing that you forgot
That you were looking for

And there you are
Right in the middle of what you love
With the craziest of company
You're having a kick-ass time
And being who you wanted to be in this world

You're that little girl
With her wings unfurled - flying again

Back in your backyard dancing
I found a way back to then

--from [title of show]

IT'S OPEN

Finally. It's open. I can breathe again. Especially since it opened to reviews like this. Although in truth that makes my job more difficult. But I'll take difficult with LOVE, to easy with URGH anyday.

I love this cast, this crew, this company, these designers. I love the love that pours out of all of them. I love that the audience feels it and soaks it up like sunshine on a summer day. I love that people are moved by what we are doing.

I wish getting to this point had not been so painful for my office. So many good hearts were bruised getting this show full of love up and running. It's hard to heal that pain; I don't know if it's even possible. But I hope with some distance it will become easier.

"Our eyes are open."