CFS Upper School Performance

Footloose





“did you cry?”
she asked me as we intersected for a moment,
the show had crescendoed
and all of us had started to spin back into our own worlds,
I told her, that as redemption started working its way into the play,
and the reality of loss touched its rawness in actor and me,
I felt the power of the story ground me for a moment
and the tears did push outwards,

for most of the time I enjoyed the surface, the moment,
the virtuosity of song, of dance, of character,
the way music & stage & story
interested me and made me laugh,
and, true to my experience, as the show went on
the production value swelled higher and higher
as performers realized their power and united with the audience,
the spell practiced so long had the final ingredient and animated full,

the teacher and philosopher in me appreciated
how many students found a place within which to shine,
the way that a meritocracy need not be of elites only,
how that with gifts of vision, direction, belief, and work,
so many can rise high enough for their light to brighten all of us,

I loved the actors who years before were already at excellence for us,
the actors who took early steps for us and now run in power,
the actors I only know from this show
who still thrill me with their performance,

thank you, those of the upper school, who worked hard
to create and release a show that flares and soars.

by Henry Walker
April 21, ‘09