A Million Dreams
Since I was a little boy, I’ve always been a fan of Dolly Parton. I can remember watching Hee Haw with my grandfather as a little boy, mesmerized any time Dolly Parton came on the screen. When you hear her full story, starting with her humble childhood in Tennessee, you can see that big dreams, and chasing those dreams, have guided her. I particularly like her perspective that…”dreams build convictions because you pay the price to make sure that they come true.”
In 2009 she delivered a speech where she said, “Do not confuse dreams with wishes. There is a difference. Dreams are where you visualize yourself being successful at what’s important to you to accomplish. Now, dreams build convictions because you work hard to pay the price to make sure that they come true. Wishes are hoping good things will happen to you, but there’s no fire in your gut that causes you to put everything forth to overcome all the obstacles. So you have to dream more and never, ever, ever blame somebody else if it doesn’t happen. That is in your department.” She expounded upon that in a 2014 interview when she said, “I’ve always been a dreamer, and yes, I have always tried. And dreams are special things. But dreams are of no value if they’re not equipped with wings and feet and hands and all that. If you’re going to make a dream come true, you’ve got to work with it. You can’t just sit around. That’s a wish. That’s not a dream.”
Here at Emerald Coast Theatre Company, we have a lot of dreams. I’m not just talking about the dreams that Anna and I have as co-founders for our organization, I’m talking about Trenton’s dream to provide for his family while producing theatre, Emily’s dream to choreograph shows, and Beca’s dream to create sets that put us in other worlds on our stage. The rest of our team here at ECTC…each one has dreams, each one of them backs those dreams up with action. They are passionate about what they do and whole heartedly let that passion drive their dream in service to our community.
Shirley Simpson, a dear friend who passed away last year, had a life long career in theater. She was a huge fan of Emerald Coast Theatre Company and every time she came to one of our Children’s Educational Theatre Productions she would say she’s never seen a professional theatre company do so much for children. In her experience, she has seen theatres do children’s programming “on the side.” She commended us for giving the children the same quality and attention that our professional theatre programming receives.
When Taylor puts together the costumes for the children in those productions, she does it with all the passion and conviction that is built into her dreams. Ora’s dreams are built into every prop. I once asked Mr. Heath, who grew up in rural Holmes County, why he is so passionate about educational theatre. He said “because theatre changed my world.” Theater expanded his dreams, took him to New York CIty, and showed him that there was a huge world out there that he could explore.
We have more dreams here at ECTC, dreams that are cultivated through our education classes and then bloom in the future of our students. We recently caught up with Marci and Gary, the parents of one of those students we’ve been able to watch blossom over the years from elementary school to high school. With pride, they shared that their daughter Alison credits her involvement at ECTC with her success in law school at Florida State University. Her professors and classmates are impressed with her ability to think quickly, improvise dialogue, and play various characters for mock trials. As a sophomore, she has been nominated to serve on the steering committee of the Trial Law Club, an honor usually reserved for upperclassmen. Richard Olivarez, Chief Marketing Officer of Ocean Reef Vacation Rentals recently sent us an email where he raved about ECTC alum Clara. He highlighted her poise, professionalism, and ability to improvise quickly as a spokesmodel for their video marketing project. He experienced first hand how Clara’s training with ECTC informed her performance with the project. We also heard from Tate, another ECTC alum. He is headed off to college and is working toward a degree in Sports Broadcasting. This young man was one of our first students in our inaugural summer camp at Butler Elementary school in 2014, and stayed with us through middle and high school. He credits his time at ECTC with helping him prepare for his chosen career path.
I see dreams coming true every day at ECTC. I see it when our 5 and 6 year old Mini Players sing in full voice “It’s Possible, anything’s possible.” from Seussical the Musical. I see it in our 2nd-5th grade Little and Big Players, and their full bodied expression of physical storytelling as they take the stage at the amazement of their friends and families. I see dreams come true every Saturday as eighty middle through high school Teen Players descend on our building and find a unique community where they always belong. A place that accepts them, and actually celebrates them.
All of these dreams are coming true every day at ECTC…all the dreams from our Mini Players to the whole expanse of our community… and you are a part of that. You, our patrons, our VIP Members, our Sponsors, and our incredible Family of Donors. Your support is the platform that we at ECTC can step up on and reach into the heavens to make dreams come true. Your support, your contribution, your encouragement is foundational to our work and we are so grateful. You truly are the Heart of ECTC.
