I recently went to see the musical Anything Goes with my mom and grandma. The next day, I wrote this letter to the Music Circus to compliment them on a fabulous production as well as kindly put in a suggestion for next year!
Dear Music Circus Associate:
First of all, I would like to thank you for providing entertainment and musical education to my life for the past 18 years. Your shows are not only clever interpretations and enthusiastic performances of some of the classics, but provide life lessons and education in musical theater. I have always enjoyed my time spent at the Music Circus and will continue attending productions whenever I am able to do so.
I first attended the music circus in 1994 when I was just six years old. My parents took me to see The Secret Garden. I absolutely loved it. From the story of Mary Lennox, to the songs, to the flawless perfection of the performance, I just couldn’t get enough. We sat on the edge of one of the ramps so I was able to experience it all up close. After seeing my first musical, I was hooked. I have seen at least one musical a year since. Some of my favorite productions at the Music Circus include The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Hello, Dolly!, 42nd Street, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and most recently Anything Goes. Some of them I have even seen twice over the years. I have also seen musicals at the Convention Center with the Broadway series, on Broadway in New York, and at the Hult Conventional Center in Eugene, Oregon.
The one musical I would love to see again that hasn’t come back to the Music Circus since 1999 is The Secret Garden. Every year I wait for the new shows and every year I feel a small twinge of disappointment that The Secret Garden is not on the list. I have very much enjoyed every production I have seen in the last 17 years yet I would still love to see The Secret Garden again. I was thrilled to see it was listed on the survey this year. I feel this musical has a little something for everyone. When I was most recently at the Music Circus, I asked a crew member why this loveable production has not been in the musical line-up recently. She explained to me this musical used to be one for the children before Music Circus decided it was a little too dark for a children’s musical. While that is certainly understandable, I do not see why this fantastic musical hasn’t been brought back at all since 1999.
When I explained this to my mom and grandmother during intermission at Anything Goes, my mom agreed the story line of The Secret Garden is a little too mature for young kids. She went on to tell me that she felt Kiss Me Kate was a little too risqué for my brother and I when we went as a family to the production on Broadway. At the time, I was twelve and my brother was eight. I asked why she thought this, especially since we had seen The Phantom of the Opera the night before. “Phantom was just scary”, she said, “in Kiss Me Kate, she sings ‘I’m always true to you, darling, in my fashion’, goes on to sing about 100 different guys, all while wearing a blue negligee.” That’s a good point, I guess. “But Mom,” I said, “I would rather learn about the world from a Broadway musical than from some of the music, television shows, and movies out there today.” In a world that can’t have a single caption on a television or movie screen for more than 4 seconds, where eight year olds have cell phones, and where humans are being replaced with computers, I believe musical theater is something to be appreciated and cherished. It’s true that some musicals are for a more mature audience than others, but the importance is in the art. The Music Circus has been captivating audiences for 61 years. They have kept the art alive through fantastic productions. Even in our economic climate today, I was surprised to see an almost full house at Anything Goes. But then I realized that the Music Circus has affected numerous people. Everyone at that performance has a story like mine; a story of how the Music Circus has impacted their life in some way.
This started off as a letter to convince you to put The Secret Garden into the 2012 Music Circus line-up. And while I would still love for that to happen, I know I will not be disappointed with the shows you end up choosing. In closing, I would just like to say thank you: thank you for a summer tradition with my family, thank you for the entertainment, and thank you for keeping musical theater alive in Sacramento.
With kindest regards,
Elizabeth A. Ostapeck
