November 2024

My parents taught at a prep school in New Hampshire and my siblings and I had a fairly free run of campus and all its facilities, while also attending the public school across the street. It was quite an incredible environment. Our dad was the athletic director so we were deep into sports; our house and the school grounds the hub for our friends and our many games. We also got to engage in my mom’s work on campus; she, the French teacher and drama director. It wasn’t unusual for us to be pulled on stage when she needed kids in a play or asked to attend a dress rehearsal and “laugh at the right moments” to simulate an audience for the student actors prior to opening night. It being an all-boys prep school, my mom and other faculty wives often were onstage, too, covering the female roles.

I recall one year in the late 60s when the headmaster’s wife (we’ll call her Jane) succumbed to my mother’s strong advocacy and took a small role, along with her cat, in a British comedy. The cat had gotten through the final dress rehearsal just fine but when her moment came under the lights she, understandably, panicked. Trying to get away, Jane held her more tightly. The scene went on. Jane’s line cue came but her body language indicated to the others on stage that something was amiss. The cat was fiercely cradled and stricken. At the blackout, Jane ran offstage, handed the cat off and went to change to a different costume, because, well, the cat had peed in her lap. The show must go on, right?

As W.C. Fields famously said: “never take the stage with children or animals”. Well, at Very Merry we take the stage with many children almost every day. But we dress them up as animals in order to avoid any “accidents” on the stage that might occur with the real ones! And we love every minute of it and feel so fortunate that they keep flying in the door clutching their scripts and water bottles to another rehearsal, dress or show.

It was another magical year for us at Very Merry Theatre, thanks to all you many wonderful families and your wonderful children. Over 50 productions with 2000 kids and teens, 4 different styles of adult productions, our growing Waterways partnerships focusing on planet health, a variety of workshops and cabarets, all in over two dozen different venues. Of course, numbers don’t tell the full story. It’s, as I noted above, the daily joy, passion, and celebration on the faces of our young actors as they work and play on our stages as well as the leadership provided by so many of our teen artists, that truly tell the story of VMT’s success. 

A big shout out this year to our fantastic Very Merry artists, so dedicated, talented, and committed to our mission. And a special thank you to all of you for supporting us and being part of the VMT family.

Fondly, Don