07/23/2012
Dear Theatre Community,
In the twelve years that I have been involved with FantasyLand Theatrical Productions, I have never had to write a correspondence like this, however in accordance with our transparency by-laws, I am writing to inform you, the people who help move the arts forward in the Orlando area, of some very difficult decisions that I have had to make over the past several days.
We pride ourselves on our performances, our space, and most of all our actors. Giving the community an arts center that they feel that they can call home has been and always will continue to be our greatest mission. As a company, we were very pleased to announce our summer surprise performance was to be Alice Walker's THE COLOR PURPLE, and we were thrilled to be one of the first to perform this beautiful piece of art since its exit from the Broadway stage and national tours. Unfortunately, circumstances have begun to block our path towards success. We have been in music and blocking rehearsals over the past two months preparing for an August 17th opening night. However, due to actor conflicts related to their own outside work duties and daily lives, constraints on time, and a fluctuating availability of actors for our ensemble as well as a lack of sufficient interested actors to support our leads, we have been forced to come to the sad decision of cancelling our Production of THE COLOR PURPLE.
Jason Brame (Musical Director) and I have met multiple times over the past few days to attempt to make all paths towards an August 17th opening night occur; however, with so many roadblocks in our path, we mentally and emotionally have made the decision that cancelling the production would be the best decision for all involved.
While we know there will be some who take this as a moment of failure, we are choosing to look upon this moment as a time to reflect upon the wonderful work and the group of dedicated individuals who worked hard to make it occur. Many of our actors have worked odd hours to make this show fit into their lives; we value each and every one of you. To our parents who have sat through rehearsals with our younger actors, your dedication to your child's future and allowing them the opportunity to flourish in the arts is to be commended. No one is to be faulted with this performance not occurring; now is just not the time for the project to come together. We have faith that we will be able to assemble again at a future date to present this wonderful work of art.
It is with a sad heart that I inform you, our arts family, of this loss at this time. I would like to also take this time to thank publicly all of you have been supportive of this project and to thank the people who spent many hours growing and learning all about the wonderful work that Alice Walker created, our actors and parents.
I know this will not be the last time we see these beautiful people or characters.
In the coming days, I will be announcing a replacement show that will fall into this performance slot. And to be completely open and transparent, I will be casting this show personally from within all of the wonderful actors whom we have seen grace our stage over the past three years while in Orlando. I know some will want to question a complete pre-casting, however at this short notice and late date, I am going to do what is best for our theatre and our company. I hope that you all will continue to love and support our organization as we continue to bring quality theatre to Southwestern Orlando and our neighbors.
While I am saddened to share this news with you, I am able to also share that we will be announcing our 2013 Season in the coming days. I look forward to seeing you all at the theatre.
Artistically Yours,
Christian St. John
FantasyLand Theatrical Productions
& CHRYSALIS Winterguard,
Executive Director
