First of all, I'd like to thank you for coming out to see the WST2K production of SUGAR. This is the first full-length show I've ever directed, so the past two months have been as much of a learning experience for me as it has for the rest of the company…. It's nice to finally find out how much of a hack I am. Musical theatre traditionally is not my bag…my roots are in Shakespeare and sketch comedy. You'll find my style to be a bouillabaisse of Mel Brooks, the Zucker brothers, and a peppering of anything I've seen on TV or in a multiplex. I had two goals for the company coming into this summer: 1) Have fun and 2) Do a funny show. While not a "big name" show, SUGAR had the greatest comic potential of any of the scripts that I read…. I felt like Augustus Gloop in Willy Wonka's factory. If you're looking for deep subtext or underlying theme…then why are you here? All I can offer up is the ability of perception to shape our reality don't judge a book by its cover blah blah blah. I'll take the pressure off of you, the week weary theatre patron. I just ask that you sit back, relax, suspend your disbelief, and enjoy the show.
--Jared Stern
"He felt joy. And well he should. He was a "babe in the woods"
and a "kid in a candy store" all at the same time. The world was his
oyster and he planned to shuck it, cover it with Tabasco, and slurp it down
his cakehole…"
-Les Claypool & the Holy Mackerel