Saturday, January 01, 2005
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL !!!!
Last night, flowing over into today, we spent time with the dearest people we have come to know here in Abingdon. Rick Rose and Amanda Aldridge (Mr. and Mrs.Rick Rose),threw their annual and typically wonderful celebration, and it felt like the entire town of Abingdon flowed through their doors on this particular occasion. At least the people we have come to care for so much all seemed to be present: not only our dear hosts, but Miss Rebecca Newton(loyal Barter friend and head usher), Betsy and Lon Boyd (my favorite Board Member and her hubby), Jim and Janice Cowan (owners of the fabulous Summerfield B&B),Terre, Bob and Harry Land (a brilliant,gifted family of pals),Michael Poisson (our dearest fellow actor) and his beautiful fiancee Krista Guffey(Amanda's Assistant Shop Gal),Theresa Heimann (our amazing and loving Wardrobe Supervisor), Craig Zemsky(new Head Electrician, a genuine friend from all the years we have been here) and his gorgeous Jody, John Mahaffey (premier Abingdon real esate man, from whom we almost bought a house) and his wife, Karen Rowe (stage manager and best friend to both Peter and me), Brian and Lori (our Box Office buds),and countless others, whose faces have become familiar and dear to us, ..ALL PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SO VERY GOOD TO US during our time here. I felt a thrilling sense of genuine community, and not only gratitude for being a part of it, but a real awe at how Rick and Amanda have managed to make The Barter Theatre a central gathering place for this dynamic community of people. It will be one of the things I will take with me home to New York: the awareness that theater is nothing if not communal...theater matters most when it matters to the people who live near it and can take it into their hearts on a regular basis, no matter how many times they attend during a given year: the fact is: it is part of their communal life, giving and taking, with vitality, need, warmth, and conscience..a place of some sort of true worship of the human spirit. Theater as spiritual partner in a community: my best realization . I love this place , and its people, and its theater, more deeply than I ever thought I could love any place. And taking that knowledge with me, this knowledge of love will make my journey north warmer, easier.
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