Four Wonderful Shows. Eleven Amazing Weeks. Thank You Weathervane!

It's so strange how 4 months can fly by so quickly.

Today marks the final show of Weathervane's summer season, and strike following. We'll all go our separate ways, say "see you soon" and go on with our silly lives.

Coming to Weathervane, I had heard about this "Summer Magic" that was created here (thanks to Corinne Munsch, Lizzie Wild and Mary Kate O'Neill) but I never fully realized what that was until today. I have learned so much about myself in this very short amount of time, and it was all thanks to the incredible artists, designers, visionaries and daredevils here in Newark, OH.

RENT taught me that no matter how many times you do a show, it can still be magical, and you can still discover new beautiful things about it, with a completely different cast. This particular ensemble of people were so poised, daring, and grabbed life and theatre by the balls, and I'll never forget that.

One Man Two Guvnors taught me just how powerful women can be, and that funny doesn't have to mean stupid. You can have amazing hair and heels and still kick ass and you don't NEED a man to prove yourself worthy. This ensemble reminded me that sometimes you just have to laugh and life, and then take the next step, no matter where it's going.

Pajama Game taught me that there's power in numbers, and reminded me what the true meaning of ensemble was; if one person fails, we all do. We have to work close-knit, like the Sleep Tite Pajama Factory and support one another so we ALL can succeed. This ensemble reminded me that sometimes a good ol' picnic makes the world brighter, and to never succumb to failure.

Nice Work. This wonderful show taught me to look at life with a little more PINK in my lenses. There's so much beauty and silliness and extravagance in this industry that we always forget about, and we forget just how lucky we are to wake up every day and call this our JOB. Eileen Evergreen is a role I'd never thought I'd play, because she's so outwardly different from who I am, but really, all she wants is stability, love, and happiness... and isn't that what we all want? This show reminded me just how much I love theatre and WHY I do this. In two weeks we created a show that allowed audiences (and ourselves) to take a step away from our hum drum lives and just LIVE. Live in a world that was bright, shiny, but still real. I'll never forget the butterflies I got every time I walked onstage for this particular show, that reminded me that "Yes Kayla. You do love this." Nice Work reminded me to love theatre again.

As I pack up my room here at Denison, and get ready to head back to Otterbein tomorrow, I can't help but smile with tears in my eyes and thank Weathervane for bringing me back to the Kayla I once was; not a complete carbon copy, but better. Happier. Stronger. LOUDER (haha!). And more fearless than ever.

Now that's a helluva way to go into your senior year of undergrad, if I do say so myself.

:')