What a glorious day! Get out and enjoy the beautiful crisp autumn air and bouquet of colored leaves! Take a walk to WMU’s campus…the Waldo Pond (just a ¼ mile or so from our athletic center) is a great destination point, complete with benches near the water for reflection, and turtles in the pond to entertain. ; )

Now on to the news of the week!

1. Kokoro (True Heart) directed by Ynika Yuag ’21, with Stage Manager Teyia Artis ’21, Costume Designer Marie Townsend ’21, Scenic Design by Chris Diaz ’21, and with producing partner Cody Colvin ’18 opens next week! YES—we are doing theatre now, in this historic time! That said, we will have a link to the streamed production to view online—so we can all enjoy and appreciate the work of the company. Stay tuned for the link! Meanwhile, kudos to the company for working through all the challenges of this era, and doing so with good humor, perspective, and grace.
2. Milan Levy ’23 has been accepted into the New York Arts program! Congratulations, Milan! For those of you who are new among us, this program provides students with the opportunity to actually work in the professional art world in NYC. Each year, students from K’s theatre arts, music, and art departments are selected for this opportunity. We’ll see how things unfold this year, but regardless, it’s an honor to be named, so CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN, MILAN!
3. PSAC.  A reminder that we NEED student volunteers for PSAC – our Play Selection Advisory Committee.  Interested?  Please contact C.Heaps@kzoo.edu to be added to our Teams site.
4. Here’s something cool – thanks to Rebecca Chan for sharing: “there is a new scholarship called the Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program , and it’s specifically for BIPOC students pursuing degrees in theatre management, theatre design, and other non-acting concentrations.   If you ARE a member of Festival Playhouse, you are “getting” a “degree” in theatre management, theatre design, and “non-acting” areas.  We suspect we have many BIPOC students who would be great candidates.  Check out the materials, and then contact Lanny if interested.
5. If you tuned into It Can’t Happen Here the radio play produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre this week, you know how closely the story aligns with today’s political climate. Originallywritten as a novel in 1935 by Sinclair Lewis,then adapted in 1936 by Lewis and John C. Moffitt, the lines could have been right out Trump’s tweets of the last four years.All that is to say, one message of the play is, VOTE. Use it or lose it.
6. ON that note, here’s some information if you have yet to register or cast your ballot: First off, are you registered to vote?

“YES”—GREAT! THANK YOU. What is your plan to submit your ballot?

“NO”—Good news! Since a 2018 state ballot passed, you can now register to vote, up to and on election day! Go to www.michigan.gov/vote  for details on how to register, or to confirm whether you have already registered.

Tuesday, Nov. 3: Polls open 7am-8pm; Kalamazoo Count Clerk’s office downtown is open until 8pm.

Information about the issues in this year’s election: www.vote411.org provides information about the election, the candidates, their response to questions posed to them and information about ballot proposals.

We hope you vote! Exercising your right to vote is a vote for democracy! Use it or lose it.
PLEASE VOTE!

That’s all for now—have a great weekend!

Smiles,
Laura​