
Director's Note
Over the last few years many of us seemed trapped, in some area of our lives: lockdown; frozen with fear; broken dreams; ill health; lost relationships. Sometimes a trauma was perpetrated upon us. Other times we regret words or actions of our own doing. And sometimes things just happen. But we re-live that experience in our mind and allow it to dominate our present. As one psychologist put it, “The cognitive difference between humans and animals is animals can forget.” Humans remember. We create connections with others, constantly striving to forget, forgive and forage onward.
In The Spitfire Grill we meet a young woman with a troubled past who wants to start anew; to forget. She chooses a small town from a travel book picture: “fall colors over Gilead Wisconsin. . .” she wants to forage onward. Very soon we learn that the people of Gilead are striving; striving to forget and ultimately forgive.
Growth requires change.
Our story is not one of forgetting our past, but of forgiving. Forgiving our past and moving forward. It is a story of redemption and perseverance. The collective conscious longed for things to be the way they were before. I believe that we want things to be better than they were before. We want security, to know some thing for certain. Change is part of the universal design: things constantly are born, grow, move, die, and are reborn into something new.
Forgiveness is the engine of that change; forgiveness of oneself, of others, of actions or events. To let go. If we harness the power of forgiveness we can change, grow, re-imagine & re-create ourselves.
May tonight’s performance Shine upon all of us as a catalyst for change and growth.
Micheal
Cast
Percy ........................................Jack Chylinski
Joe.............................................Andrew Baker
Hannah......................................Sharon Gail
Effy.............................................Shaina Summerville
Caleb.........................................Connor Ripperger
Shelby........................................Cait Kelly
The Visitor..................................Hazael Martinez Ortega*
Technical Staff
Director..................................Micheal Kott
Musical Director.....................Kyra Leigh
Technical Director..................Gary Dennis
Stage Manager......................Robert Salas
Lighting Design......................Micheal Kott
Lighting Operator...................Ariana Patino*
Sound....................................Kevin Kalah
Set Design............................Gary Dennis
Set Construction...................Gary Dennis, Micheal Kott, Robert Salas*
Damian Dennis, Samantha Dennis
Bird Design..........................Anahi Moreno*
*current Morton College Student
Musical Numbers
Act I
"A Ring Around the Moon" - Percy
"Something's Cooking" - Company
"Out of the Frying Pan" - Percy
"When Hope Goes" - Shelby
"Ice and Snow" - Caleb, Joe and Effy
"The Colors of Paradise" - Percy and Shelby
"Digging Stone" - Caleb
"This Wide Woods" - Joe and Percy
"Never Heal" - Hannah
"Shoot the Moon" - Hannah and Company
Intermission - 15 minutes
Act II
"Come Alive Again" - Hannah and Company
"Forest For the Trees" - Joe
"Wild Bird" - Shelby
"Shine" - Percy
"Way Back Home" - Hannah
"Finale" - Company