(Special Blog)-the Importance of being modest

In my blog article on "An afternoon of Arthur Miller," I said, "Theater can be performed anywhere and by anyone." This saying sums up the connection between a community of theater goers. Theater, as well as the many different mediums of art, has been the central entity that has held a community of people together. Most of these bonds have been held together by the similar interests of the medium that is shared between the community, whether it be critiquing theater, producing theater, performing in theater, or simply observing theater. The more time the community spends time in theater, the more their interests expand and the closer the bond grows between one another.
Some people look at community theater and describe it as a less mainstream version of a theatrical production. True, the production value for a number of community productions are much less than that of a professional production, most of the time. The technical elements of the production are not state-of-the-art, the cast and crew don't always get paid or work on the production full time, the productions themselves may not run for months on end, and the stars in the production might not be as well known on Broadway as Sutton Foster or Joel Grey. With all that being said, in the long run, what is most important is taking a community of theater goers and putting on a show for other theater goers.
The theaters I have worked with, have taken the forms of all shapes and sizes. Ranging from large cathedral halls, to small dinner theaters, to the open outdoors. Each one using the space to their advantage, and each one having a certain charm and atmosphere to their houses. This charm was assisted by the that of their staff members. Particularly, their cast of performers. With community theater, people will always see some familiar faces during the run of the productions, whether onstage performing or in the audience observing. The more times people comes to these places to see these productions, more often they can call them, "a place where everybody knows your name."  
For seven years, I have worked closely with a wide range of community theater companies. Both onstage and backstage. Some have been an established company with a long history and others have, unfortunately had to step down from their places in their communities. These establishments, with their long history, have formed such close bonds. Families of friends. As understandable as the reasons may be, it has still remained heartbreaking for me to see the homes that sheltered these families fade away into obscurity. Within the house of these theaters, their history is preserved by different forms of memorabilia for outsiders to observe. When they are shut down, their history is preserved within the memories of those who were there, and share them with others through word of mouth.
As fleeting as these small theaters might be, there will always be a group of people who love theater enough to venture out on the town and enter a realm of comedy, tragedy, and sometimes music. Thus bringing us to the true meaning of community theater. It is a form of live theater created by the community and presented for the community.