Can You Tell Me How to Get to…

Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2021/07 – July

Inspired by Sesame Street’s mission, Scott Daniel, Executive Director of the Highlands Playhouse, wants to demonstrate that we’re never too old to Grow Smarter, Stronger, Kinder. 

As we recover and re-community after Covid, the opportunity for change is now, and Scott feels theater is at its core.

“Sesame Street is how a community was built,” says Scott. “It’s a neighborhood that taught many generations about kindness and compassion, and what it’s like to be part of a community, from one end of town to the other. Not all people look, act, speak, think alike. It’s that diversity that makes us stronger,  better.” 

That concept segues into Scott’s curated July film series: movies that explore Community. What better theme for Highlands? 

Ring of Fire and Curtains Up! are the theatrical center from which the movie choices radiate, harkening back to the iconic fire around which village stories were/are told.

The kick-off film is a nostalgic yet informative look at the most successful children’s television show in history titled Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street, followed by Queen Bees, starring Ellen Burstyn, James Caan, Ann Margaret, and Christopher Lloyd. Circumstances require Burstyn temporarily move into a retirement facility. There she encounters mean girls – the senior citizen kind. 

Move from mean girls to mean streets with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights. It’s a jubilant celebration of heritage and community, led largely by Dominican immigrants who re-communitied a poor, rough neighborhood. From dazzling direction to mesmerizing music, let your level of love for community sky-rocket, in this month of fireworks and festivity.

Scott points out that in its 8-plus decades of operation, the Playhouse has missed only two seasons: one at the beginning of World War II and the other for Covid. At a time when we needed entertainment and escape most, we couldn’t have it. Even so, the loss of it and so many other things has re-communitied us.  We are more grateful, we are more empathetic, and, having been in isolation for what feels like years, we appreciate community more than ever.

The essence of theater/performance is story-telling. Playing a guitar with no audience or no fellow-musicians is fine for a while, but ultimately, it’s not enough. We need each other. Community and communication come from the same root, communicare: to share.

Theater is our community-builder. Like Russian dolls, we have communities inside communities. Inside Highlands we have the theater. Inside the theater we have a community of actors and tech specialists who have their own little communities, and inside those are families and clubs and organizations. And inside those are more connectors. It’s endless. 

Covid reminds us there are no boundaries. We are all spokes on the same wheel. By taking care of each other, we keep turning. Theater is all about the metaphor of community.

Visit highlandsplayhouse.org for more details about the July movie series and the live stage performances.