Author:
Mr. G
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Date Posted: 09:53:56 02/02/03 Sun
Well Corey,
I appreciate your heartfelt letter. I don't take offense at it at all, and you should know that you can always speak your mind with me.
I would say that, in this competition there were a few bright points. Tech design is one of those areas: Amy Malatak seizing an Excellent in Costume Design was wonderful for our troupe! And Alexis, Mariela, Rusty, Lizz, and Patrick Lane all deserve credit for being pioneers in their events. You also deserve credit for pioneering your event, and receiving an Excellent in SDS our first time out. And very nice work to Lexi in Solo Musical. A lot of credit also goes out to those stranded members of group performances who had to deal with other Thespians who chose not to attend workshops, or rehearsals.
You and Rusty (you did hear me say "Good job, Corey" AND "Good job, Rusty" both I hope - and I hope that you're not bitter that you were not praised for your Superior) have worked hard on your script, and dedicated yourselves meticulously to improving yourselves. You both spend many hours in the Drama room working, not just visiting, when you're not "scheduled" to be there - just because you care about your performances and others performances, and you want us all to be better. You are exactly what the President and Vice President should be, Drama role models.
Alex and Krisy also deserve recognition for their performance, which would have gotten a Superior had it not gone overtime. Sarah gets *major* props for doing a song at the last minute.
That is the competitive spirit that is absent from our troupe's overall culture. I must take exception with your contention that the troupe busted their asses for this competition. In the last few days, yes. They did. But almost without exception, this troupe abandoned their scenes in October, in November, and in December and left everything to the last minute. To me, "We do things right ... eventually" is the absolute testimony to our troupe's philosophy. Except this time, waiting until the last minute didn't pay off.
Over, and over again, I have urged troupe members to rehearse. I have warned new troupe members that competition levels are serious. I have warned veteran troupe members that they are relying on their talent, and forgetting to work on their scenes. I have given my time for our troupe to audition, in order to improve our work. I have given my time for our troupe members to workshop - every single day after school. And to see the very same scenes come back each week obviously unpolished from the last time was very disheartening. Even to see technical events that weren't created until the final weeks, when there were 3 months to prepare indicates a serious lack of drive --in general-- on our troupe's part.
As your sponsor, I have been serious about this. I have shown up when I said I was going to show up. I worked, and planned, and organized for this trip way ahead of time. I have never quit. I have done this not because I will ever, ever, ever, ever get up on that stage and be recognized for my work. There is no trophy ever for me, even if our troupe gets straight Superiors. You can believe it our not - I do it for you, because I love you, and so that you can get the glory. So you can feel good. So you can say: I worked my ass off, and I'm proud of what I did.
I must disagree with your note about the checkmarks on the paper. Once you have done everything you can in a scene, when you have worked hard, and dedicated yourselves to succeeding, THEN I will be the first person to congratulate you whether you get a Fair or a Superior. AND I will be the first to tell you that the judge who gave you a Fair is a total lackwit inbred moron who should die.
However, this troupe has a culture of not understanding that. Three Thespians did not show up, period. Didn't call in, didn't say anything to me. I had to pay $20 in fees to drop or rename events. I sincerely hope that there were serious emergencies that precluded these problems -- but I have an abiding suspicion that the people involved simply walked away.
For those of you who showed up .. yes, you showed up. You performed even when you were scared - and I'm glad you did. You gave what you could on stage and did not back out. That takes courage, and for that you have my most sincere congratulations. But for the 100,000th time, success does not come from procrastinating. You need both talent AND discipline to succeed. Not just in a competition, but in life. These are life skills.
Let's be honest. Thespian competitions are called that because they ARE that .. they are competitive. And some schools don't do Thespians because they don't believe Drama is about competition. And, if our troupe does not want to compete, I will be the first to enjoy the reclaimed part of my life that I have given to you. We can just do plays. If you DO want to compete, then you compete against yourselves. And when you do come up short because of something YOU'VE done (and not just because somebody else was better), forgive me for saying this, but you should feel bad. That feeling bad when you don't work hard is different from feeling good when you do work hard for a reason! **And that doesn't count working hard all at the last minute.**
So, you may disagree with me on my timing. But none of my other timings with this exact same speech over the past years has made much impact that I can see. I wanted you to freeze those thoughts at that time, and remember them. If that makes me unpopular, it makes me unpopular. For those of you who felt like "s*it" - recognize the root cause of that feeling. My intention with that after-ceremonies speech was to galvanize your will. To make you swear that you would never, ever accept less than your best again. Because I know you. I recognize and celebrate your God-given natural talent. And I know that was not your best.
I was standing in the cafeteria near the judge's room, waiting for the meeting that would never happen at 5:00 while you all were waiting for the Showcases to be posted. And, I overheard Linda Bailey (our district chair) as she came out and talked to some of the judges who would judge the Showcase at closing ceremonies. She said to them, "I really have to hand it to the sponsors this year. There were so many Superiors this year that the judges can't believe it. They've never seen anything like it in the history of this competition." Our total? One. (Two, if one hadn't been disqualified) One out of 29 registered events. Fewer than when we had 5 troupe members. Are we headed in the right direction?
We are no longer a young troupe. Troupe #6180 and #6282 (both created after us, or at the same time) both had many, many awards. Our building years are over, and our excuses are gone.
I'll say it again; if you don't want to compete, then don't compete. If you do want to compete, then give everything you have when you get up on that stage. Know that you have studied hard, that you have poured your heart into your performance or design. Know that you started a long time ago. That little by little, you've added to your scene. That not a week went by where you didn't pick up your event and work on it for an hour or two. (And if everyone did that, there would be no need for workshops, or missing sports practices). That your group rehearsed together, often. That, by working together with a partner, or a group, you came together. That you had one common goal, and you realized how powerful people can be when they all have the same vision. That you learned how powerful YOU can be when you really put your mind to it.
Do that, and you will not need anyone else's respect because you'll already have it. And no one will be able to take it away. Not me, not a judge, not an audience, not anyone. It will be permanent.
This troupe does need a real kick in the butt, though. We should collectively decide that just walking away from events, or from rehearsals, or workshops is unacceptable. We should collectively decide that next year, Thespians that don't rehearse their scenes regularly (i.e. not just rehearsing at the last minute) without a very, very good emergency reason should not go to competitions the next time we compete. We should collectively decide that IF we are going to compete that we are going to not only have fun (which we do) but that we are going to be PROUD of what we've put into it.
Personally, I have more respect for someone who works their butt off for a Good than someone with talent who procrastinates themselves into a Superior. Again, the judges' scores don't matter IF you've put your whole heart into it.
Did we?
I have the judge's scores and results for you. Take their comments to heart. Take them for what they are - comments by volunteer professionals in Theatre who are doing their best to help you improve. Not because they're paid, but because they love Drama.
Drama itself is competitive. The Screen Actors' Guild has a fairly constant 95% unemployment rate. And, be warned that standards in public high schools have slipped so far that many, many colleges are reporting high dropout rates from their Freshman classes? What reason did they give? Lack of study skills and self-discipline.
I want you to succeed because I love you. You are beautiful people with kind hearts. I want you to be the best you can be. I want you to have all of the choices in this world open to you. I want you to be whatever your heart desires. I don't want you slamming into that wall that life will put up in front of you - and know that I could have taught you "that lesson," but I didn't, because I wanted to be your friend instead of your teacher.
I accept full responsibility for the anger my speech caused, and I stand by my remarks.
There'll be a Thespian meeting on Wednesday, where we can dedicate ourselves to a discussion on this. Further forum messages are always good, as well.
-- Mr. G
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Feedback: 
Mr. Gaudet, I hope you read this...
Ok, point taken.
Re: Mr. Gaudet, I hope you read this...
Re: Mr. Gaudet, I hope you read this...