Congratulations to everyone involved in last night’s opening of I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo and Juliet by Andrew Rincón.
Our season asks, What We Owe Each Other. Last night’s performance offered a beautiful answer: we owe one another the courage to love, the freedom to belong, and the opportunity to see our lives and communities represented onstage.
Looking out at an audience that so clearly reflected the people and communities at the heart of this story was deeply moving. They laughed, listened, responded, and recognized themselves in the work. This is what theatre does. It creates a space where people can gather, see one another, and know that their stories matter.
Congratulations to director Cheyenne Niblack and to the wonderful cast: GeriAnne Meals, Grace Parrish, Theo Olson, Saraeh Ransom, Nevaeh Castillo, Ven Viloria, Elizabeth De La Cruz, and Brie Lara.
Congratulations as well to stage manager Kayla Prothe; assistant director and dramaturg Dominic Moore; assistant stage manager Aarylin Holt; guest intimacy coordinator Erin Urick; guest fight coordinator Alex Tolar; scenic designers AnnDee Alvidrez and Ayana Jones; costume designer Rossina Lozoya; lighting designer Kaya Hagman; sound coordinator James K. Davis; and technical director Patrick Reading.
Thank you to George Wame Mathews, Melissa Neville, Kendall Pullum, Mia Singer, Ollie Faltin, Tyra Hampton, Reagan Coon, Clever Christman, Alejandro Gonzalez, Sam Cox, Brenna Rutschmann, Aubrianna Smith, Ayden Smith, Alex Ruhl, Walter Powell, Evelyn Welter, Cole Archer, and the many students and staff members who painted, built, sewed, wired, programmed, managed, and ran this production.
A special thank you to the cast and crew of Cabaret and to all the other K-State Theatre students who came out to support this opening. Seeing our students show up for one another is another powerful expression of what we owe each other.
We are also grateful to Auntie Mae’s Parlor for generously sponsoring the production and supporting student theatre and storytelling in our community.
Congratulations, everyone. What a joyful, generous, and necessary opening night. In the words of playwright Andrew Rincón, “Un poema fabuloso.” A fabulous poem, indeed.