Directors' Notes

It will come as no surprise to anyone when I say humans are, by their nature, storytellers. You could spend an entire series of courses at a university studying why that’s true. It all boils down to the telling of stories being as old as mankind itself, and as being an essential way to share information with each other.

Those of you familiar with live theatre will no doubt understand the enormity and complexity of those two words. If you are less familiar with community theatre, allow me to offer a bit of an explanation.

As I write this, I’m between seminars at the American Association of Community Theatre’s Community Theatre Managers Conference. There have been lively discussions on a variety of topics, including Working with the Board of Directors, Legal Issues, Insurance, Season Selection, Burnout and Mental/Emotional Health for Staff and Volunteers, Financing and Marketing. Many more subjects will be discussed in the next few days.

That flurry of activity has been one show after another, back to back, with little to no downtime between productions and concerts. The BDACT Fine Arts Center has been constantly filled with music and set construction noise and rehearsal conversations. Costumes, lights, props, sets, microphones and make-up have been liberally used. The amount of popcorn that we’ve made so far this year has to be some sort of record. The casts, crews, and volunteers have been hard-working. The performances have been wonderful. The audiences have been enthusiastic and supportive. The pace has been hectic!

Wow, it’s only May and we already have five stage productions and four concerts behind us in the 2025 season. Now it’s auditioning season at the Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre. Well, to be more accurate, with over a dozen stage productions this season alone, it’s ALWAYS auditioning season. But late spring is when we gear up for four large summer productions, followed this year by three fall shows. That’s a lot of shows, and a great deal of cast members needed.

Recently the space program has been in the news. It reminded me how the adventure fascinated me as a young boy growing up in Beaver Dam. I was 10 years old when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon in the 1960s.