For the past month and a half, our calendar has been full of performing Paul Bunyan in the area schools (thanks to the sponsorship of the Assistance League of Salem). You can't have as many shows as we've had and not come away with at least one incredible story.
At the beginning of a show, Chris picked a young man to play Babe the Blue Ox. Throughout the play, Babe came to the front and helped Paul (Chris) move the buildings, straighten a road, carry trees, and make the six Mississippi Rivers one "big, powerful river." After each feat, Val Do-It (Marian) led the audience in a cheer for Babe the Blue Ox.
After the show, two teachers let us know that the young man is in foster care, that he is bullied sometimes at school. But that day he was in front of everyone being cheered; and those around him would pat his back in congratulations every time he went back to his spot to sit down. "Life-changing" is how one of the teachers put it. A forty-five minute show. Life changing. It's the simple things that make a difference. It makes our struggles as a small for-profit theatre company worth it.
Has there been that moment in time in which a simple thing made a difference for you?
At the beginning of a show, Chris picked a young man to play Babe the Blue Ox. Throughout the play, Babe came to the front and helped Paul (Chris) move the buildings, straighten a road, carry trees, and make the six Mississippi Rivers one "big, powerful river." After each feat, Val Do-It (Marian) led the audience in a cheer for Babe the Blue Ox.
After the show, two teachers let us know that the young man is in foster care, that he is bullied sometimes at school. But that day he was in front of everyone being cheered; and those around him would pat his back in congratulations every time he went back to his spot to sit down. "Life-changing" is how one of the teachers put it. A forty-five minute show. Life changing. It's the simple things that make a difference. It makes our struggles as a small for-profit theatre company worth it.
Has there been that moment in time in which a simple thing made a difference for you?
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