First, I was saddened to read that JeanZ had passed. I was one of the early beta-testers of Restrospect, and I had many exchanges with her and others in that group. I haven’t posted in a long time. When I saw the membership was growing, I kind of dropped out believing that I had done my part.
This topic is something that I can relate to. I’m not a major collector of anything, but I do keep little bits of this and that from my various activities and careers. They live in a few boxes, most of the boxes contain a jumble of stuff. I do try to separate things into high school, college, programs for professional shows I’ve seen, and memories from shows I’ve participated in.
Currently (at least until the COVID-19 thing closed us down 2 days before opening The Bodyguard) I’ve been doing a lot of theatre projects at Diamond Head Theatre in Honolulu. Each production, the cast and crew give out opening and/or closing gifts. I’ve learned that it makes no sense to keep all of these gifts, but I do keep a program, my script and a couple of significant gifts from each show.
I have a large tee-shirt and swag collection from when I was working as a stagehand in Oakland, as well as other venues and productions. When the shelter at home orders came in, I decided to go through my drawers to look at all the shirts. I ended up doing 30 days of #shelterinshowshirts” on Facebook. People enjoyed it, and I got to wear almost all of my shirts again!
I’ve always been one to maintain relationships, so the high school pom-poms, Great America ID card and yellowing photos have placed smiles on faces when I have the opportunity to share them. I’ve found that my role is as “A Connector”. I love sharing memories with those from my past. I manage Facebook groups for
- My high school class
- The Show Ops people from Great America Santa Clara
- A musical performance group called Youth of America (I performed with them in the 70’s)
- An alumni group for staff from KTEH Public Television
- Students from the 2 high schools where my drama teacher had worked
You might think that I’m stuck in the past – far from it. In my mid-60’s I now work as a website developer where I continue to learn and grow with the changing technology. I love remembering the “good old days”, but I don’t want to go back. However, I’ll continue to keep a little bit of this, and a little bit of that from each thing in my life that has meaning to me.
Live Aloha
Good to meet you, Live Aloha!
I’m fairly new to Retrospect, enjoying it and meeting new friends across the 48, and now you too!
I’m a New Yorker who loves theatre, and did a bit myself in college, I have a dear cousin in Oahu who I hope to visit again once this nightmare is over, perhaps we’ll meet some day!
Meanwhile break a leg and stay safe!
Perhaps we shall.
Hope so!
Hi Live Aloha, and welcome back to Retrospect! T-shirts are such wonderful memorabilia. They take you right back to the event, AND you can wear them. And wear them. And wear them. I especially love the Les Misérables center shot of your photo montage…the look on your usually smiling face is spot on! And your 30 days of #shelterinshowshirts was a great idea…very clever.
Sounds like you’ve had a varied and interesting life…I hope you continue to post now that you’re back!
If a topic strikes me, we’ll see.
Welcome back, Live Aloha! I was a Beta Tester, too (high school friend of John and Patti’s), so I recognized your name as soon as I saw it on the site, from the East Coast, this morning.
I, too, was saddened to learn of JeanZ’s passing. I only knew her through Retrospect, but know she went to college with many of my Retro friends.
I love that you have been busy during the quarantine finding your collections, posting them to Facebook with hashtags and connecting with people. Great thing to do. And we have theater in common. I was a theater major in college, tho haven’t performed since then (I sing in a chorus now), but still love seeing live theater performed. Nothing like it. Thanks for sharing your story.
I recognize your name as well, Betsy. I’m not sure how often I’ll contribute here, but I will when the muse strikes. Let’s hope that theatre opens back up soon, but that can’t happen until people feel safe coming together. Attending a production (or choir concert) should be something to relieve burdens, not add to them. The day will come and we’ll celebrate!
Great story and welcome back! I don’t think any of us on Retrospect think of ourselves as stuck in the past, but it takes a special skill to maintain those long-time relationships and integrate our past into our present and future, as you have.
I have a collection of swag from Silicon Valley companies I’ve worked at or with. I never thought of them as memorabilia, but they certainly are! They don’t rival your trove of show shirts, though. Hope you’re back on the boards soon.
I also have my Silicon Valley shirt/swag collection:-)
What a great idea to wear all of your shirts during the #stayathome. Your collection is great. Being a connector is so important these days as people struggle to maintain their connections with others. My husband had a huge t-shirt collection commemorating various things from college to sports teams. Our kids had them made into a quilt, which is fun. Now, we get to see them every day.
I know several people who have done shirt quilts. It’s a great idea.
Welcome back, Live Aloha, I was a beta tester too (college classmate of John’s). I recognized your nom de plume as soon as I saw it last night. It has taken me a while to write this comment, because I went back to look at your old stories, and then also had to look at the stories I wrote on the same prompt as each of yours, and it was a long and lovely trip down memory lane 2016.
As others have said, I love your idea of 30 days of #shelterinshowshirts – the ones I can see in the collage are great fun, and your expression in the Les Miz picture is perfect! How great that you manage all those facebook groups and think of yourself as a connector. We definitely need more connectors these days!
Happy to have you back whenever the muse strikes. We will try to come up with prompts that are muse-worthy.
Nice to hear from you Suzy!