Vacations and Birthdays

I just got back from visiting my family in Florida for my birthday. It was such an awesome vacation and one of my best birthday's because of the surprise birthday party my mom threw. I honestly was so surprised and let me tell you, it was such a cool party. I walked into a room and there were over 40 people cheering and celebrating. My mom rocks!! Doesn't she? As I walked around the room I came across a collage my mom made. It had pictures of me from when I was a baby to as recent as this past Christmas. Right there in front of me, was a pictorial representation of my life. The impact of just seeing those photos left me speechless and touched me beyond words. It amazed me how much looking at those pictures had an impact on me.

I then thought about this vacation, my birthday, and the impact a picture can make. It made me think of Ground UP. I know it seems like one has nothing to do with the other but actually they do.

I thought about GUP because it was on a Vermont vacation where I really bonded and got to know all of the great people that make up GUP. This past New Years we vacationed together for the week and weekend. We played video games, sang show tunes around the piano, had big feasts together, walked on a frozen lake, built snow people, went skiing, and brought in the New Year together. You can see in the above photos, we had a blast!!!

I then thought about birthday's and again I thought of GUP because Ground UP too is celebrating a birthday. Five amazing years. There is nothing like a grand birthday celebration. Just like that party my mom threw, we're getting 200 people together to cheer and celebrate at our Gala. And, as my mom did, our incredible graphic designer Wade put together a collage of sorts by incorporating into our Bootleg Revue Graphic various images from the past 5 seasons. Check out the graphic on our web page and see if you can figure out which image comes from what show.

Finally I thought about the pictures. How seeing something can impact us. This made me think of the incredible productions we have done. So yes, again I thought of Ground UP. Whether we made people laugh or cry, we created our own pictures in our shows. We created work with the goal to have an impact on the theatre community and its artists. From our amazing sets to our revival's to our new work premieres, we continue to create a pictorial representation of life. I know our Fall production of Letter from Algeria about three collage students discovering who they are will do just that.

Here's to great vacations and a Happy Birthday to me and Ground UP!