Over the next week, as we approach our Development Review Board hearing, we thought we'd share some letters in support of Mirror Theater Ltd/GAAR. Today, on this Black Friday, we're giving you a two-for-one: two letters at once! Today's letters are by Tom Kehler and Elye Alexander. Both letters are used here with permission of the authors. Previous letters can be found here. If you would like to add your support, please email us.
"All of Our Lives Have Been Enriched"
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing in support of The Mirror Theater, the new home for the Greensboro Arts Alliance & Residency (GAAR). I am a long-time summer resident of Greensboro and have deep roots in the community because my three children and five grandchildren are year-round residents. All of our lives have been enriched by the opportunity to see and participate in high quality theatrical productions that Mirror has produced with great effort, energy and sacrifice over the past decade. The new theater now under construction has been carefully planned for minimal negative impact and I believe that the theater will benefit the community significantly.
Sincerely,
Thomas Kehler
"The Start of Something Joyful"
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to express my support for the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency (GAAR) and its project to create a new theater and arts center for the community.
My association with GAAR began roughly a decade ago when I noticed a flyer on the bulletin board at Willey’s Store seeking community volunteers to take part in a staged reading of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Delighted by the prospect, I signed up. A few weeks later the performance took place in a local barn—fifteen or so amateur cast members with minimal props and costumes, sometimes stumbling through our lines. But we all had a blast, and so did the surprisingly large audience who came to watch. I think everyone sensed that this was the start of something joyful and important the community had been missing.
Since then I have spent easily a thousand hours involved with GAAR’s increasingly sophisticated projects bringing theater, music, and literature to Greensboro and the surrounding area. I have watched shy kids and inexperienced folks who never before had an outlet for their talents develop into skilled artists and performers. I have seen the happiness on countless local faces at what they have created.
GAAR has been a tremendous boon to the town and the region, connecting enthusiastic amateurs of all ages with talented professionals from across the northeast, and supporting the local economy by hiring skilled local artists and craftspeople and drawing audiences from the surrounding communities. The new Mirror Theater is sure to further enhance the organization’s good work and expand its potential, while also providing an ideal location for other local arts groups to stage their own events. I wholeheartedly recommend supporting this project.
Sincerely,
Elye Alexander, Craftsbury
