03/05/2026
Director's Note
Two months ago, we sat in a room together for our very first read-through of Tuck Everlasting. The
pages were simple. Black and white. Notes in the margins. Pencils tapping. A piano picking out
melodies for the first time.
I remember telling the cast to pay attention to the process. To really watch it. To notice how much
work it would take and how many good people it would require. A musical doesn’t just happen
because the script exists. It takes singers, actors, dancers, builders, painters, seamstresses, stage
crew, musicians, tech operators, makeup artists, and countless volunteers who give their time and
talent without needing the spotlight. It takes parents driving late at night, friends running lines,
custodians, and a community that believes this kind of work matters.
Tonight, you are seeing what happens when all of that comes together.
What began as black and white text has become color and movement and breath. It has become
harmonies that fill the room, choreography that tells a story without words, sets that transport us to
Treegap, lights that shape emotion, and costumes that bring characters to life. It has become
something living.
And that feels fitting, because Tuck Everlasting is, at its heart, about truly living.
There is a beautiful line Angus speaks: “You don’t have to live forever, you just have to live.”
That idea has followed us through rehearsals. We have lived these past two months. We have
laughed, struggled, solved problems, tried again, encouraged one another, and grown. This process
has been as meaningful as the performance itself.
This show is more than a script. It is a reminder that life’s value is not found in how long something
lasts, but in how fully we choose to show up for it.
To our cast and crew: thank you for your courage and commitment.
To our volunteers and families: thank you for your time and steady support.
To our musicians and technical team: thank you for shaping what the audience sees and hears.
To our community: thank you for believing in young artists.
And to every person who helped turn these pages into something alive — thank you.
Tonight, we celebrate not just a performance, but the joy of creating something together.
Kyle Gardner
Director
