My Nonprofit Reviews

I have created work for a very special theatre company called Arts on the Horizon before. But early this year, I had a completely new experience with them. I was in the audience for the first public show of the piece I had just collaborated on. The performers were already out, gently engaging with some of the objects and children in the space. And then it came time to shift into the official start of the show...and I don't even remember what the exact signals and actions were, but somehow, this audience of babies (in parents' arms, or on their tummies on the floor with necks craned up) just KNEW. A sea of brand new humans gave their full attention to the same spot. And the air was ELECTRIC. ...I cried. Ha, I have done this work before! But I had never quite experienced *this.* A room full of babies completely awake with wonder, together. It was palpable and beautiful. It felt like some kind of miracle of humanness. And I knew that I wanted to give whatever I could to a company that could make that happen. A company that could give that to both the babies and their grownup caregivers, who were watching their stunningly focused children with own kind of wonder and glow.

The Nat'l Conservatory is an arts-championing educational institution that welcomes students immediately into a FAMILY. The network created here is something that is so hard for actors of any age to find, in any market. Here, students train with professionals *currently in the field* -- people who can tell them what the greater artistic community is like right here & now, but also people who could potentially get them work after graduation. The man who just taught you script analysis? He runs a bold experimental theatre company. The man who just introduced you to Commedia? He operates a children's theatre doing original work. The woman working with you on monologues just finished a national tour, and is currently writing a show with her husband (also on staff), set to be produced by a local company. This is a place where students are given tools to become thoughtful actors, serving this and other communities through storytelling, while being able to raise a family or keep steady employment. This is the first institution I have encountered where students were ALWAYS welcome back, be it for advice or coaching or support. NCDA gives so many people the confidence, skills and courage to keep the arts alive & flourishing.

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