WINGS testimonial

As some of you may know, our Artistic Director, Randy Reinholz is also the Director of the School of Theatre, Television, and Film at San Diego State University. He's been a professor there for about ten years and, needless to say, has worked with a lot of students.
Upon graduation, a good number of those students pack their bags and head north to the City of Angels (or around there). Many find work in TV, a few in films, a lot in commercials, and some (like me!) find they're better suited to working behind the scenes.

Regardless of which path (or paths) former students chose to take, it's always nice when they're able to squeeze some time out of their busy lives to visit us at the Autry to catch a show, say hi, or update us on their ongoings. And it's even better when a student finds time to do all three of these things in one swoop.

One such student (Miss Cheryl Lynn Wanless), did just that a few weeks ago. She came to see WINGS, chit-chatted with Randy a bit, then sent us the most endearing letter that she so graciously gave me permission to share with all of you. It's a simple testament to how powerful theatre can be and how moving WINGS OF NIGHT SKY truly is.

On behalf of everyone at Native Voices, we'd like to thank Cheryl for spending her time with us and for her heartfelt message. We truly appreciate your honesty and kindness in sending us this note and we do hope you come back to see us again.

Randy!
I saw the show! I really enjoyed it. Obviously the lighting was impeccable...but i was expecting that when i saw craig wolf in the program. i dont know how he does that. its gotta be a gift. i dont know a parnell from a floodlight, but i can appreciate how triumphant it must be to capture the feel of the play so perfectly. i loved the guitar. i also love theater like that because its glorious to see people using that area of their brain while so many people are so negative about the economy and everything these days. howard fine says actors create from their pain and i honestly believe that. when you hear stories like that it really puts your life in perspective.
i have always said i love art because i can walk in a theater and see a small place and a small set, and before i know it i can see everyone who the actress is talking about (as peter larlham says: all u need is a space). i visualized every person in the actress's life, as she was such a tremendous storyteller. she really drew me in. i love how art serves as a therapy for people. i can identify with that a lot, as i have used art as a tool to express myself through the up's and down's in my life. i even brought my date, who is a known, working (fortunate) tv actor, and he loved it. turns out his mother is cherokee! so he knew a lot more about the terminology from literally going to pow wow's as a kid.
also...the t.s. eliot reference...we were arguing over this because he was saying t.s. eliot was christian and that was why that actress was saying he needed to put his hands in clay. however... i was thinking she was saying that because (i love t.s. eliot) and maybe his work would not have been so dark if he had art (i.e. clay) in his life...i.e. his work the wasteland. looking forward to seeing more shows soon. the staff was really nice! thanks!