35 Years of APT: A Poem

A lovely, sweet poem by our friend and Season Sponsor Jerome Jagielski, written in honor of David Frank's retirement using lines from welcome letters in APT playbills spanning 35 years.

Thirty-Fifth Year*

1980 With profound gratitude
1980 our first season's offerings
1980 mark the beginning of the public celebration

1980 full of humanity
1980 full of the wonder
1980 and joy of life

1981 lest it be forgotten
1981 this is a new born theatre
1981 as vulnerable as an infant

1984 thank goodness our dream
1984 is outrageous and colossal
1985 to nurture the unique quest despite impossible odds

1990 entertaining insight
1990 into our human condition
1992 is a venture of profound value

1993 we are above all storytellers who are
1993 privileged to share
1993 stories of profound beauty

1994 with simplest expression of the richest thoughts
1995 in the combination of story and poetry
1995 that produces the intoxicants we crave

1997 a fascinating journey
1997 of our culture and civilization with the
1998 startling agility of the well-spoken word

1999 the four hundred years that
1999 separates us from Shakespeare
1999 vanish into the vastness of a starry night

2001 an ongoing quest
2000 exhilarating periods of growth
2000 our growing audience and-artistic ambitions

2002 in this ability to be in the moment
2002 the freedom to create each idea and
2002 line for the first time

2003 we are part of a shared consciousness
2003 of what it means to be alive
2004 and feel as if we have only just begun

2005 your dream,
2005 your creation,
2005 your theater

2006 amidst the fresh energy of spring
2006 comes a rush of memories from countless
2006 past productions

2007 language, story and
2007 incandescent acting
2006 APT's special place in the hills of Wisconsin

2009 devoted to classical theater -
2010 we will never quite find the words to convey
2010 why we gather on this hill

2010 we know that this struggle for expression matters deeply
2011 and we have not only kept our balance
2011 but also stayed our course

2012 one more step
2012 in a long and beautiful journey
2013 this is after all - your theater

*Excerpts from the writings in APT playbills: Randall Duk Kim (years 1980, 1981, and 1985), Charles J. Bright (year 1984), Anne Occhiogrosso (year 1990), David Frank (years 1992-2013)

Jerome J. Jagielski, December 2013