Domo arigato Mr. Roboto...

Dear Friends and Colleagues of UUSGS,

Thank you so much to all of you who directly and indirectly supported the production of "Robot Nature" these past few weeks. It is difficult to find theater companies who are willing to take a chance on new works, both artistically and financially. There is no guarantee what the outcome will be. Is it a good work that people want to see? Is the production value worth the cost? Will the institution recoup the initial investment? These are all practical things that both community theaters and professional companies consider when deciding to take a chance on a new work. 

UUSGS and Unity House Players were willing to look beyond the practical and think about how this particular project would lean into our values of artistic expression and ministry. For this, the team working on Robot Nature will be eternally grateful. 

There were 3 goals put forth when deciding to bring Robot Nature here:

• Give the writers, Tammy and Ian, a space to workshop their show with youth and see how it landed. What needed to change, and what worked well with the script and the music. The show was originally written for college-level pre-professional dancers. Moving forward into licensing, can the show be expanded to groups beyond pre-professional?
• Give the composer an opportunity to realize the score with live musicians. Again, would it work? Is it too difficult? The score is unlike anything else in the musical theater canon right now.
• Give 13 local youth/young adult performers an experience that mimics professional theater: 2.5 weeks of a professionally run rehearsal process, preview performances, and 5 shows. Create a bonded community of actors and crew that works together to create something meaningful. 

All three of these goals were met, and the experience for all was amazing. Tammy and Ian will be moving this work on to another level, and are now much closer to getting it published. 

Thank you to UUSGS for taking a chance and supporting the production of new works. 

Oh, and financially the show recouped it's costs!  Go, team!

Thanks everybody!
Elisabeth