mirror ball 26: take a chance on me

Someone who took a chance on me:

Chris H: I've had a lot of people give me chances in my life that I am grateful for... but today it seems most appropriate to say thanks to my dad... Dave Harder... who married my mom and adopted me when I was two years old. He took a chance on me... became a father and raised me to be the man I am today. Thanks for taking the chance Dad. We done good.

anonymous: A few short months after we met, my sweetie saw me at my messy, scary, alcoholic worst. He chose to stick around, for which I am forever glad. And that was when I sobered up, in part because I wasn't sure he'd make the same choice a second time.

Tim: Richard Thomsen changed my life forever. In 1978 Richard Thomsen touched not only my heart, he touched my soul. The soul of a young, struggling, seemingly misunderstood, angst-ridden artist. I was 28 years old.
"art," he said with a little a. "Humph! Art is a man's name."

It was a Friday afternoon in late August of 1978. I was sitting in a coffee shop (The Sensuous Bean, believe it) in Lansing, Michigan. I had left a teaching job in Kentucky in May of that year. Forces beyond my control had decided after six years that I was an outsider in my own state and that their children should not be exposed to the likes of me. Cue the Ku Klux Klan. So, after moving to a small farm in East Tennessee, I went to visit a friend in Lansing, clear my head and make some decisions, any decision. I was a batik artist; I wound up doing some rather large batiks as a backdrop for a production of Carmina Burana in which my friend had the lead tenor role. The batiks were impressive, I must say, six feet wide and 45' tall. A newspaper article about the production and the unknown artist from Kentucky got the attention of the Artistic Director of the Boarshead Theatre. Cue Richard Thomsen.

I'm sitting at a table in the window of the coffee shop. He walks over and introduces himself. I ask him to sit. He does. The conversation at first centers on the batiks and my background. In due time, he tells me about his Theatre Company which he and his associate John Peakes had started when they left the Theatre program at Iowa State in 1965. Then it gets good. The Boarshead season was about to open, and they were looking for a scenic designer. Was I interested? Mind you, my Theatre experience, aside from college and a few high school musicals, was nil. But, what's an artist to do? I needed work. I wasn't about to go back to Kentucky and have the white sheets on my tail again.

So, I said yes. The following Tuesday I found myself in a company meeting being introduced as their resident designer. My first professional show, right out of the gate, was "The Glass Menagerie". Talk about stress. I stayed eight seasons. Six years later, I received an NEA Fellowship, and five years after that I was in Japan designing a ballet. Serendipity indeed.

I owe my entire career in the Theatre to Richard. I recall complaining once, saying that I wanted my voice to be heard. I felt I needed a gallery to hang my personal images in. I'd had enough of birthing playwright's babies. "Sometimes upwards of a thousand people see your work on any given weekend, " he said. "Do you have any idea how many lives you touch? What more do you want?" And when I decided to leave, I told him I didn't want to design any more. I was burnt out. "Ha! Right," he said. "Yes you will. It's who you are." And now, 32 years later, I'm still designing. Wisdom has its humbling voice.

John: There's really only one instance of this that comes to mind, and it really did change my life. That's the night that Steve walked up to me in a crowded, noisy bar and started a conversation. Twenty-three years later, here we are. Thanks for taking the risk, my love.

Jacklyn: Someone taking a chance on you is one of the sweetest events in life. Someone who looks at you, talks to you and decides that you are the one. Somewhere you are registering just right for them, their instinct is embracing you and they welcome you. At the North Carolina School of The Arts, the dean took a chance on me. He didn't care that I didn't come with all the right academic credentials. He spent time with me, watched me teach, looked at my experience and told me that he didn't know what he wanted exactly in terms of building a small faculty to work together with him but he knew he wanted me to be part of it. I never imagined teaching in a university situation, but there I was. I had an incredible and life changing experience and the knowledge I gained has been integral to my life as I live it now.

Another time a director took a chance on me over someone whose work he knew well and who he thought was right for the part. My life changed because I found myself in a lead role in a Shakespearean play. Just knowing I could come up with the goods in a way I'd never had to before, changed my life, made me more confident and willing to take my own chances.

I will be forever grateful to those two people. Someone taking a chance on you is unexpected, joyful, and confirms yourself to yourself. It's also a brave thing for someone to do. Many factors often relegate instinct to the back seat and when someone overrides those factors, they are putting themselves on the line along with you.

Val L: When Rose cast me in JAW (Playwrights Festival) the year they did The Thugs and Number Three. She didn't really know anything about me but my audition. Doing that season of JAW lead to amazing things for me. Also, Allan Nause cast me in Killer Joe @ ART when I had just moved here. Technically I was too young for that role, but it was an amazing opportunity and brought me one of my best friends in the world.