“Whatever fate is left me, I feel it must unfold in Illyria.” — Sebastian
I believe in fate and I believe that fate lead me to Illyria as well.
In the winter of 2008, while searching for a musical for the 2008/2009 Season, I saw this show I’d never heard of listed on the Theatrical Rights Worldwide website. It sounded interesting, I felt drawn to it for some reason. Not being raised in the U.S., I am not fully knowledgeable of the Shakespeare canon: I recommended another musical with more familiar source material.
That summer we caught a performance of Twelfth Night at Volunteer Park. It was love at first viewing, and I immediately started to think of Illyria. I contacted the licensing agency, and wound up getting a perusal pack and the CD. That was all it took. I knew we had to do this show. I proposed it to the board, and the change was agreed upon.
Next, we needed to find someone who could do it justice. The first and only person that came to mind was ShawnJ. I know him personally, but most important, I have seen his work, both on-stage and behind the scenes, and knew he was the perfect director for the show. I was very grateful when he immediately agreed to direct.
This has been a fantastic experience for me as producer, starting with the amazing turn-out at auditions – over 50 individuals – and casting such a talented group of people to building and painting the set and finding volunteers. The challenges faced were not insurmountable, and it was amazing the assistance I got from friends, old and new; individuals as well as other theatre companies. This is why we do theatre!
Every rehearsal I attend gives me goose bumps. To see the cast progress under ShanwJ’s direction and John Allman’s music direction has been great fun. After a year of listening to it, it’s unreal to see it all come to life.
So now we approach the end of the journey – the grand finale, when all is revealed. Finally, we get to see Illyria unfold on the stage at Redwood Theatre. I hope you enjoy the journey. Cakes and ale!
