During my tenure as Producer of Wildwood, one aspect of WST has become most apparent to me-we are a family. We work for nine months out of the year in high schools, colleges, offices and homes, and then come together each summer for our annual "reunion." We learn from each other. We trust each other. In some ways, WST can easily mimic West Side Story: a bunch of teenagers forming a sense of loyalty and family without guidance from adults. WST's story turns out a bit differently, though-even after the occasional 'rumble' everyone always survives in the end.
Part of our family reunion includes the alumni who return year after year. We are honored to see some of the members of the 1978 company, who performed WST's first production of West Side Story. We are indebted to all our alumni who continue to lend their support, and who remember what it was like to mend a broken set at the last minute or search for a forgotten line while onstage. And although we always boast of our all-youth status, every time I see a donation from a parent, or dozens of cookies that an aunt has made for us, or the same parent dropping their kid off at rehearsal night after night, I realize how much we owe to our families.
Thank you to this year's staff, whose hard work and dedication to this show has been incredible, especially Cynthia and Will, who have been helping me since day one. If you are the relative or friend of someone performing tonight, on or off stage, I only hope you are as proud of him or her as I am of this company. That said, please sit back and enjoy our 40th production, West Side Story!
Kelly Theim
...and West Side Story makes 40!