When I first came to WST in the summer of 1999, I had no idea what kind of history it held or even that it was an all-youth theatre (even though it was explained in The Washington Post ad that caught my eye). I just wanted to come and tryout for a show and see if I could land a spot in the cast. To my surprise, my uncle (Jonathan Hadary) had not only been a member of WST over thirty years ago but he was also a founding member. He went on from Wildwood to become a star of the Broadway stage and earned a Tony nomination in the revival of Gypsy. This caused me to really take an interest in the theatre and now I have become the director, a position that my uncle held in Wildwood's first summer. Talking with him over the last two years about WST, I have found that while much has changed over the decades, the most important things have stayed the same: the formula for turning out a show.
WST 2001 and WST 1965 have many things in common when it comes to methods of show production. We both arduously made rehearsal schedules, fund-raised, found rehearsal and performance spaces, collected props and obtained the rights to our specific musicals. We also have the same passion for the musical stage as they did and hopefully it shows this year. Working with this year's staff, cast, crew and orchestra has been a joy. I would like to send a special thanks to Lauren Beth DeRocco, Will White, Ashley Scott, Josh Rodgers, Quinn McCord, Izzy Hernandez-Cata, Sarah Levin, Mom, Uncle Jonathan and the rest of the WST alums.
Michael Hadary