#utfounder

I promise, the shock isn’t simply because that makes me almost thirty (say what?!) or because it floods me with the realization that it’s been a very long time since I walked Conard halls as a student....  It’s hard to imagine it’s been fifteen years since twelve of us, students with and without disabilities, crowded into my living room to talk about “this thing” that we were going to put together — this thing that became Unified Theater.  

It’s wild to think that a night tie-dying T-shirts in the Forman’s basement has multiplied into hundreds of shirt-decorating nights coast to coast. It makes my heart smile knowing that when we learned Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in The Wind” in sign language all those years ago, we were setting the stage for thousands of young people to create their own art and build their own productions.  I don’t believe any of us, particularly me, thought that little show we staged in a jam-packed choir room on a Friday night would become what Unified Theater has today.

But, Unified Theater still matters today, fifteen years after our founding, for reasons so much bigger than tie-dye shirts, and sign language lyrics, and standing ovations.  I’m still a theater kid at heart, and the boundless creativity Unified Theater lets participants experience is so important.  But, it’s so much more than what happens on the stage.   Unified Theater matters — maybe more than ever — because of what it does to inspire young people to be citizens and leaders who value inclusion.  Not inclusion in a tokenistic way, or in an “I’ll be nice to you because I feel bad for you” way.  Unified Theater trains young people how to value inclusion as a way of life.  We learn how to look at difference as an asset, not simply a challenge. And, in a world that’s not always focused on kindness and joy, it brings a lot of that awesomeness too.  It’s a place where performers, audiences, educators, and community members are reminded that perhaps the most important thing we can do is be nicer to and more supportive of each other — and have some fun while doing it.

If you had told me on that first show how Unified Theater would grow, or what a profound impact it would have on my life, I wouldn’t have believed you in a million years.   Unified Theater shifted the orbit of my life.  It’s led to life-altering relationships, new perspectives on the world, valuable insights, and memories I’ll never forget.  

Still, when I reflect on the last fifteen years, it has little to do with big events or the big life-altering impact. It’s the little moments that are burned in my heart.  It’s remembering Jamie saying “Do it again!” with air quotes. It’s that time we all sang Kaia’s ‘We’re Unified’  in the rain at Six Flags. It’s Katie and Dani posing out front of the PLL set in LA. It’s singing for our supper at Salute.  It’s running into alumni on the streets in West Hartford who can still remember songs from their productions years ago.  It’s knowing Tori will take her Unified Theater experience into the classroom. It’s Michael rolling his eyes and chuckling about what a generally frazzled crazy lady I was at every single Spotlight Summit (right before I almost fell off a chair doing the ‘We’re Unified’ dance). It’s that cupcake photo of Keenan and Ryan that Michelle took. It’s eavesdropping on parents in the audience of Southington’s first production talking about the impact of Unified Theater on their kids.  So many heart-exploding, simply wonderful, moments.

It’s knowing that the impact Kelsey has had on my life has rippled out in the most spectacular way.  

Signing off from Ireland, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.  Grateful that Unified Theater has and forever will be part of my journey.  For fifteen years… and counting.