It was November, 2016.  Twenty-four actors and twenty-four shadow actors stepped on the stage at the KROC CENTER, Coeur d'Alene, ID for their first production - "Beauty and the Beast Jr."  For most, it was their first time in a performance theater.  First time for sets, costumes, make-up, sound, lights, and theater seats.  It was distracting, intimidating, scary.  It was . . . rough. But we had decided at the beginning of our journey together to celebrate whatever our actors brought us. 

And then, twenty-four hours later, the second night of tech week. Three days until opening night. It was the most astonishing transformation ever.  It all clicked.  It was magnificent. This group of inexperienced actors were suddenly a theater company. They pulled it together in true theater magic fashion. 

The 400 seat theater filled rapidly and there was a friendly buzz.  Nobody had any idea of the treat in store.  The lights dimmed, the audience silenced.
For the next hour the audience laughed and cried, their emotions soared from pride to utter joy.  Expectations were surpassed and everyone, audience, production team, actors and shadows shared in the most incredible performance. 

The curtain call, oh, it was magnificent! Two bars into the finale and, with spontaneous synchronicity, the audience rose from their seats, exploding with overwhelming emotion.  There were three curtain calls with applause that was sustained for a full, incredible, 5 minutes.