Last weekend, I hopped off the train, grabbed my bags and roamed the streets of New York to meet up with my student leadership team. And I had an absolute blast!
Our first day there we went to the Broadway Cares office and talked with Joe Norton about the full extent of Broadway Cares. They do a lot more things than I though of at first. Although the name does say Broadway Cares/Equity fights aids, they also have a bunch of charity events (such as Broadway Bares, and various one time cabaret events) and the Broadway Green Alliance where they focus on being environmentally friendly and recycling.
Afterwards, we met with Alex Sarian, and we discussed what advocacy
really is. We talked about how it isn't just telling a story, but rather telling
the story. In this case, it's telling the story of how being involved in theatre has affected not only my life, but how theatre has affected those around me. On top of that, I learned that theatre students are usually the students with higher grades and better SAT/ACT scores, and administrators and educators like hearing that kind of information. However, whenever I advocate, I must always be careful about who I'm talking to and how I'm talking about the topic, because if anything is said the wrong way, it could end up hurting me instead.
Later that night, thanks to Jason Daunters, we also had the opportunity not only to watch Pippin (with really great seats), but also to meet a few of the leads from the cast after the show!! I shook hands with Kyle Dean Massey, and figured out that among the cast were fellow thespians!! It was really nice and refreshing to see that there were thespians who have gone on a to be successful in following their dreams, it gives me hope for the future.
The day afterwards, the crew and I ate breakfast with the oh so fabulous Jason Daunters and heard about his adventures in New York city. He told us practically everything that had gone on in his life and it was all amazing to hear. Then, that night we got to watch The Country House, and if you happen to be around New York city anytime soon i highly recommend it.
The following day, all the ITO were in the streets of New York, doing many tasks at once! We alternated between trying to get people to come by our table, attempting to get people to actually buy our stuff, taking some selfies and getting a hold of our alumni so we can all stay connected! Those hours were killer for my feet but it was an amazing experience nonetheless. If you ever have the chance to go to the Broadway Flea Market DEFINITELY GO!!! And I know I was super excited whenever I saw thespians from my region (especially CONNECTICUT!!! :D)
Fast forward to the weekend afterwards and picture me getting shipped off to Michigan to attend their leadership conference! I was REALLY nervous! This would be my first time presenting my leadership workshop and the first time, the first time leading the NAPS workshop and I would be the first ITO to travel for this year! It was a lot to hold on my plate, but the weekend went a lot smoother than I thought it would.
The conference that weekend was prepared by Lori Hathaway and Erik Hart, and oh my goodness... it was just AMAZING! It was jam packed with activities for leadership and also gave the Michigan state officers the chance to prepare for their festival (and trust me, if you're going to attend that festival, you're in for a fun time!!). Everyone I met that weekend was extremely nice and they all took me in as if I was one of their own and I love each and everyone of them to pieces!!!
Teaching my leadership workshop and the NAPS workshop for the first time in front of a fresh group of students really helped me to see what I did well on and what I could improve upon. Not only did I learn this, but I learned a lot of things about thespians outside of my state: we're all facing similar problems within our programs. We could do a lot to help each other out through the internet by just sharing some advice about how we can run our theatre programs back home. Here are some of the definitions of advocacy that we got during the NAPS workshop!
These past two weeks have been truly phenomenal and what a great way to start off the year! I'm glad that I have Alex, Dany, Alyssa, Liz and Rachel on my sides along with my adult board members Diane, Swilz, and Staples! I can already tell that this year is headed in a great direction! I can't wait to meet and learn from more thespians this year!