I distinctly remember logging onto Facebook a year ago today. I had been at a friend's wedding just outside the city the night before that was certainly soggy, but the great fear of Irene tearing through the New York area had subsided and it seemed like little damage had been done. So by the time I got back to the city (by cab, since public transportation was still shut down) I was shocked the see the first photos coming out of Weston. Every photo was more startling than the last. At this point, I had only spent a week up here in the middle of the winter, but even without knowing the full, green lay of the land it was obvious that something major was happening. And all we could do from New York was keep on watching the photos as they were posted and send all the positive energy we could muster northward.
The photos on the second day, though, were inspirational. We got to witness an entire community come together - the volunteer fire department were pumping out the remaining water, Weston residents showed up with tractors to help clear out all the debris, the entire cast and staff of Saint Ex broke out their galoshes and started shoveling mud. Over 100 members of the community showed up to help. For every heartbreaking photo of a baby grand piano over-turned in the orchestra pit, there were ten photos of the Weston family working together and unearthing treasures and turning everything around in short order. Within five days, Saint Ex had been re-staged (without an orchestra pit) and re-opened for the remainder of its scheduled run.
And that's what is so magical about the Weston Playhouse to me. It isn't only a regional theater, it isn't only an artistic home - it is a full-fledged community. My time here has been made so much more special and the work we've done here has been that much more rewarding because of that. I can walk to rehearsal on Sunday morning and run into someone coming out of the church next door who asks how the show is going. The cast can call up the Klonskys and request some quiet time with their dogs over a home-cooked meal. You get to know the guy at the candy register at the Country Store and you can invite your waitress at the Bryant House to the show.
What I've always valued most about working in musical theater is the collaboration and the community. It's what inspires me and what gives me the most joy - finding more in yourself because of those who surround you. And I'm so grateful for the year-and-a-half I've spent getting to know everyone up here at Weston, because this is a community in the truest sense.
Thanks to the Playhouse community in Weston and everywhere across the country, a full and exciting season is wrapping up with Pregnancy Pact. Yesterday I took a walk around town to take some photos to show you just how different it was up here one year ago today. The first photos in each set were taken by Producing Artistic Director Malcolm Ewen on the day of the flood - I tried to re-capture each photo this year.
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| The dam behind the Playhouse flooding. |
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| The same view today. |
More photos after the jump!
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A view down the West River behind 700 Main Street.
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| Looking west from the front steps of the Playhouse. |
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| The steps down to the Cabaret space below the theater. |
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| A view down into the orchestra pit. |
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| Looking north on Route 100. (Notice how you can't even see the mountains through the clouds during the storm) |
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| A view from the bridge over the West River just south of the Playhouse. |
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