And So It Goes
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The school year is over. It’s weird to look back and think that I have completed one quarter of my time in college. Weirder still to think that I only have three more years of schooling to go (that is unless my life plan changes drastically and I head off to grad school). It’s amazing to me that this year has actually happened, that my life has actually been altered in the way it has. Over the next week or so I’ll be posting on my experiences in the last 3 weeks, from review to getting ready to leave. I won’t do it in one long post, that just seems silly. All I will say about review, however, is that I got what I expected, and I am continuing as a Musical Theatre major for now, as always I will have to work as hard as I possibly can in order to remain in the program, but that is true for everyone, not just me. In this post I want to talk a bit about an experience I had right at the end of the year, on the last night that Dillingham was open to students.
I walked through the building with a senior in the department, and wandered with them while they rehashed their memories and experiences in each room. I watched them say goodbye to this place which had meant so much to them during their time at IC. We spent about twenty to twenty-five minutes in most of the rooms, starting first in studio two, then moving to studio three, Dillingham 6 and 3, G-16, the Hoerner, the Clark, and even the Red Carpet. We stopped in at both the scene and costume shops, the dressing rooms, and the office. I watched and listened to this senior rehash moments they’d had in each place and lovingly say goodbye. It was soothing for both myself and the senior to sit or stand in the space and rehash, to feel completely comfortable at each location. I’ll never forget the look of pure happiness and sadness in each room, to relish in both the happy and sad memories that Dililngham had brought them.
I can imagine the building holds the same for every senior, which is what is so amazing about the experience I had, for I was able to hear just one of the many fascinating tales the building held. I heard about Urinetown auditions, Mainstage entrances, underground rehearsals and productions, fights, make-ups, make-outs, classes, and just about anything else you can imagine. I’m truly floored by the graduating seniors. To hear how much they’ve done, and to think that every graduating class can say the same. Words fail me at the talent which passes through Dillingham over the years, and I feel so blessed to be a part of it.
The trip was also a goodbye of sorts for me as well. Sure I’ll be back in the building in the fall, but I’ll have new spaces to explore, new things to see. The red carpet will be gone, replaced with a new “more slick” red carpet as one teacher described to me. There will be new studios, and some of the shops will have new locations. The main entrance to the building will now be in a different location, sure the main doors will still be there, but they’re expecting patrons to be coming in more from downstairs now. There will be an extra elevator, and studio 1 will have a chunk taken out of it to prepare the room for an elevator to be added in the future. There will be new doors, lockers galore, new offices, and old offices will be taken away. In the fall, everyone is going to be freshmen for a week, not just the freshmen themselves. While we all get acquainted to the building, it will be a time of joy and a time of sorrow.
- Goodbye Dillingham. Thank you for the most amazing of first years. I will see you for the next three, in whatever form you take, but it’s been great knowing you the way you were.
- Goodbye seniors. Thank you for your mentorship, love, and support. Your guidance made all the difference for at least one lowly freshman, and I’m sure others will say the same.
- To the incoming freshman, get ready for the ride of your life. Move quickly, or it will pass you by. Make sure you have everything prepped that you need to so you can hit the ground running. To hit the ground flatfoot is not advisable, and to hit the ground with a limp is all the harder to recover from…I should know…I limped my way around for quite a bit.
Finally, to the Ithaca College Department of Theatre Arts Class of 2012. 1 down, 3 to go, let’s kick some ass, take some names, and make no apologies for doing so. I hope y’all are ready to work.
I sure am.
~Ned Donovan
