It was one of those nights… the kind where you look around, and you marvel at the wonderful things around you.

Tonight was the Opening Night for Eleemosynary at the Williamston Theatre.  It’s a beautiful play by Lee Blessing – a sweet, funny, touching, gentle story about the relationship between 3 generations of women in a family.  And it’s about more than that, of course, and the director and cast did (and do) a fantastic job of bringing that fact to life in the production.  

The show was beautiful.  People laughed, people got a bit teary-eyed at just the right moments.  People sat in a room for 90 minutes and enjoyed what good theatre does to you… and they did it because they wanted to be there.

I started this journal on April 10, 2005, because I was in a "let’s start something" mood.  On April 12 of 2005, I posted this journal entry and spoke about how I was talking with some good friends about starting a theatre company, and that we weren’t sure how or what it would be, but we were excited about it. 

A little over a year later, in May of 2006, I posted THIS entry, all about the beginnings of our 1st production, Additional Particulars!

And tonight, we celebrated the Opening Night of our 29th show.  Our 29th show! 

I sat there this evening, in my seat, before the show started, and I looked around at all the people.  A 3/4 full house: some audience members I recognized as regulars, some I’d never seen before – I chatted with a number of them.  And after the show, the lobby filled with people to mingle and talk and laugh.  The four founders were there, and two of them had their new baby with them.  Some board members were there, doing more than just phoning in involvement with the theatre – actually seeing shows, bringing food for Opening Night, believing in the mission!  Other members of the WT family were there, too – past actors, future actors, designers, friends – some who’d been there from the very first show, some who just joined us on this one! 

Looking at all the people, and the building, and the baby, and the pictures on the wall… I found myself shaking my head in amazement.  I have no idea where the WT will be in 5 years.  I still marvel at the fact that we’ve BEEN here for 5 years, but tonight… it was clear that for a lot of people, this is a place they want to be.  For all of the challenges that exist in what we do, we’re lucky enough to still be doing it… and doing it in a place, a home, that we built. 

Sometimes, in the "Oh my God how are we going to solve the problem of the week" rush that we all find ourselves in, all we need to be reminded of what’s important is to notice all the people around us.  Sometimes that’s all it takes to be truly appreciative.

Tonight was definitely one of those nights.