My Last Days

My parents have always encouraged us to be educated and pursue our passions. That is exactly what I did. Despite all my logic telling me to get an education in something sensible, my heart wouldn't be happy unless I did theatre. So that is exactly what I did! I majored in Theatre Education at the University of Utah.

I am very passionate about the performing arts and equally passionate in the education of young people. To me theatre is the perfect vehicle to teach children so many life skills, i.e confidence, empathy, communication, eye contact, public speaking, and the list goes on. I started college when I was seventeen and started teaching theatre at nineteen. I loved it! I became the drama program at a small charter school in Salt Lake City. The school was geared toward at-risk teens from 7th-12th grade. This turned out to be an educational experience that no college program could offer. I was able to put what I was learning in my classes directly into practice in my own classroom. With a full-time college student schedule plus teaching my drama classes, I was stretched thin, but loving every minute of it. This type of ridiculous schedule will prove to become my norm throughout my career.

I loved college. I loved what I was learning and I loved my students. I graduated in May of 2005 and decided to visit my parents in Phoenix over the summer in order to put my resume together and look into graduate programs. Reality quickly set in that I graduated with a degree in theatre and full time jobs are few and far between. I applied to every possible job I could find all over the country. I even applied to become a dance instructor for a summer program for a theatre in Phoenix named Valley Youth Theatre. Out of all the resumes and applications I filled out, Valley Youth Theatre was the only one that called me back. One of their summer teachers backed out last minute. I was in the right place at the right time.

My first summer at Valley Youth Theatre was great. For the June session, I worked as the dance instructor for the 5-6 year old camp. By the second session, my then boss made me the dance/acting teacher and I was in charge of directing the final production. After summer camp, I stayed on as a contract teacher and taught various acting classes. It was a great job, but I had yet to fully understand how special Valley Youth Theatre was. Then I saw Cats. For some reason or another, I didn't make time actually see any of VYT's productions when I first started working there. There is a certain expectation when you think of youth theatre and although I am an advocate of theatre for youth, I wasn't very interested in seeing a production. If you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all, right? WRONG!

As a lover of almost all musicals in the world the one musical I had no desire in my heart to every see was Cats. I don't know why, I just wasn't interested. However, my husband, who does not have the background in theatre as I do, saw a production of Cats when he was young and loved it. So when VYT was putting on the production, I thought it would be fun to take him. My somewhat low expectations were completely blown out of the water from the moment we walked into the Herberger Theatre and saw the set. The set was rented from the Broadway touring show and looked amazing. Yes, the set was phenomenal but was quickly overshadowed by the stellar performance of the cast. The performance of this young cast rivaled Broadway productions. It was one of the closest things to a perfect production I have ever seen...AND IT WAS A YOUTH THEATRE! That is when I understood what a special theatre I had the honor to be associated with.

It was around that time that I was hired on full time as an Education Associate. I taught the majority of the classes and directed plays for the Playmakers Troupe as well as co-directed the improv troupe. I became close with my students and their parents. VYT soon became a second home and a second family. I was consistently given new opportunities to be creative and tackle new challenges. About 8 months after becoming Education Associate, I was promoted to Director of Education and Outreach. I was responsible for developing our performing arts curriculum and running the department. I was also given the responsibility to direct two main-stage productions. This, although a great honor, made me very nervous. Bobb Cooper, the Producing Artistic Director (and my boss), directs the majority of the main-stage shows and is a complete genius. I have a lot of admiration for his work and was nervous that I wouldn't be able to get the level of performance out of my casts that he is able to accomplish.

However, my nerves were calmed as Bobb became a great mentor. He allowed me the freedom to direct and was very gracious and helpful with his advice and encouragement. My first main stage productions were A Winnie the Pooh Christmas Tail and The Princess and the Pea. They were great experiences.

The next year I directed A Winnie the Pooh Christmas Tail (I directed this show 3 times as it was our annual holiday show and loved every cast) and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The latter was literally my ultimate dream come true. As a huge Shakespeare fan, Midsummer has always been on the very top of my list of shows I wanted to one-day direct. Bobb gave me my chance. And better yet, he agreed to let my sister, Nicole, design the set..

The stars aligned for me and this production. I worked with the most amazing group of young people who were just as keen to make this show something special as I was. I demanded nothing but the best from my cast and they delivered. I felt like I had a lot on the line with this one as it was the first Shakespeare production ever done at Valley Youth Theatre and it was my personal desire to make it a memorable show.

I poured my heart and soul into this show. My sister, who has the same heart for theatre as I do, was a great partner in this production. She would come over to my house and we would brainstorm every aspect of the production. Her talent as an artist was a godsend. I was inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night painting and she was able to paint it as a backdrop for Midsummer. I didn't really appreciate the scope of what I asked her to do until after the fact. "Hey Nicole, can you paint a famous masterpiece on an enormous scale for my production? Great, thanks." If she was intimidated by the request, she never showed it. She just made it happen and it was spectacular. The entire set was magical; the lighting was beautiful; the costumes were perfect; and my performers and crew were completely dedicated. Every moment working on this show was a dream come true. My favorite show, working with my sister, with the support of a wonderful theatre. The icing on the cake was when I won the VYT Stars Award for Best Direction for A Midsummer Night's Dream. This production will always have a special place in my heart.

Along with directing, I continued to teach my classes, have a baby, and see the education department grow. This year I again directed A Winnie the Pooh, a new play Between, and The Hobbit. With three shows in a row, I directed for 6 months straight. That is Monday thru Thursday from 5-9pm and Saturdays from 11am-6pm. I have to admit, I was getting pretty burned out near the end. My schedule was getting tiresome to my husband and I hated not being home to put my son to bed at night. However, I couldn't think of anything else I would rather be doing. If I had to work, I would not want to work anywhere else or do anything else. It was while I was directing The Hobbit that we found out that our lives would be making a dramatic change.

We found that we would be moving to Pomona, CA. With this upcoming move, my husband and I came to the decision that my last day at VYT would be the opening night of The Hobbit. Although I was excited about the move, I dreaded quitting VYT. As I said before, VYT was my home and my family. My life was entwined with the staff, students, and parents. When it came time to put in my notice, I cried and cried and cried. Bobb cried too. He had become such a mentor to me. His passion for this theatre was inspiring. He was a great boss to work for. It meant a lot to me that he too appreciated and acknowledged my contribution to VYT and recognized how important this theatre was to me.

In a spiritual sense, I can honestly say I could see Heavenly Father's hand in all the opportunities I had from college to now. Every moment was one answer to prayer after another. I was given a slew of life experience in a period of 5 years. It was more than just being in the right place and the right time. I believe that as a daughter of God, He loves me and guided me to these opportunities. I am truly blessed beyond what I deserve.

On the opening night of The Hobbit, I brought my parents, my husband, and my in-laws to see my last show. Nicole also worked with me on this production as the set designer. We have so loved working together! She is so talented. This show called for a moving, breathing, talking dragon and she was able to create the perfect dragon. She was there as well. I'm not very good with goodbyes and I like to avoid sentimental moments because I get very emotional. However, as much as I tried not to think about this being my last hooray, I was constantly approached by parents and students who were very sorry to see me leave. It truly touched my heart to see how many people cared about me and the work I did. During the opening speech, Bobb mentioned that this would be my last show and to my great surprise, the audience gave me a standing ovation. It was an incredibly special moment that I will remember for the rest of my life.

I will always be grateful for my time at Valley Youth Theatre. I recognize that not many in this world have the opportunity to truly do what they love and have their personal and professional dreams come true. This chapter of my life will be treasured in my heart forever.