Jadd: Give Playhouse a chance
Jadd Davis, artistic director for Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre, attended a meeting of Lake City Playhouse supporters last night. The Coeur d’Alene Summer Playhouse is trying to regroup after a recent misfire. Jadd writes on Facebook:
“I attended the town hall meeting for Lake City Playhouse tonight.
“I’m excited and hopeful for this important institution to return to its roots as a top tier community theatre.
“I admired what the Modern Theater aimed for. Certainly as a theatre professional myself I’m all for more professional or semi-professional opportunities. And I appreciated my own experiences under that banner.
“But since that endeavor didn’t pan out, I think it’s crucial that the core of how it began - namely the Playhouse - is maintained and sustained.
“I can probably speak more articulately than most as to the challenges of shepherding a theatre through a transition - particularly one that is under a microscope looked through, with skepticism, by the court of public opinion.
“I’m still occasionally defending why I took the CST gig and it’s never pleasant, but the first year I lost boatloads of friends and it really took a toll.
“Please consider the humans who are trying to make this transition a success. Remember they just want a theatre to work so they or their kids can have an artistic playground. Give them some grace in the face of their mistakes (which the board owned wholeheartedly tonight). Nobody likes it when something beloved hits a rocky patch, and no matter how things are handled, someone’s gonna be hurt/mad/confused.
“If it’s up to me, LCP thrives and it (along with CST and the other great institutions in Coeur d’Alene/Spokane) move forward into an ever-brightening tomorrow.
“Give em a chance.”
* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Huckleberries Online." Read all stories from this blog