The last time I had worked at Arena Stage was back in 2006 when I worked on Cabaret and She Loves Me back-to-back. -My first show there was Sunday in the Park with George in 1997. So, since I am/was an alumnus, I was invited to today's "Alumni Brunch"...
Lots of old friends. Lots of hugs. Some tears. Smiles. Laughs.
There was so much HISTORY in that theater this morning! There were actors and crew from the first five decades of Arena's existence in attendance!
All three of Arena Stage's Artistic Directors were also there: Zelda Fichlander, Doug Wager and Molly Smith. All three of them spoke in "reverse" order with Molly starting off, then handing it off to Doug, with Zelda bringing the opening hour to a close. They all shared some great stories, and basically gave an oral history of Arena. When Zelda started listing some of the people who were not there today, well... All of us started crying.
*One of the things that Zelda said was that she hates the word "closure". To paraphrase her, we should never bring the memory of a loved one to "closure", they should always be with us. -And, yes, that was one of the moments I started to cry.