New Beginnings

Have you ever driven halfway across the country with a hyperactive puppy in the back seat? I have. I don’t recommend it. Unless…

 

Unless you’re driving toward a new future doing what you love in a place you’ve loved all of your life. Basically, what I’m saying is that any trial is worth it if there’s love involved. Even a trial that likes to drool on your arm while you’re driving and eat smelly snacks in an enclosed space (her name is Poppy, by the way).

 

Hello, everyone. My name is Amy Roeder and I am the new Director of Education at Penobscot Theatre Company. In talking to people about taking this job and being a part of this amazing theatre in such a vibrant cultural community, I have used the word “excited” so much that I’m afraid I’ve used it up. But I truly am excited…and thrilled and overjoyed and delighted and determined and focused and…I could go on but the pages of my Thesaurus are stuck together.

 

I came here to work for a community instead of a company. I work in theatre because it’s vital to have a place where members of that community can come together under one roof and have a shared experience. Theatre should be a conversation between the artists and the community. I couldn’t be more honored to be at Penobscot Theatre Company and to be part of the conversation.

 

Penobscot Theatre’s 2014-2015 season started with a bang. Honky Tonk Angels enters its final weekend today after playing to sold-out crowds since September 4th. When I went to see it, audience members were singing along with the familiar songs and the woman in front of me was dancing in her seat so hard, I thought she might eventually leap up and start dancing in the aisles. Here’s the thing, folks… You might think that singing and dancing along with a show like Honky Tonk Angels is frowned upon but you’re wrong. Sure, we’d like you to not disrupt the show, but we in the theatre are here to move you: to laughter, to tears, to singing along with “Delta Dawn” and having a good ol’ fashioned hootenanny if it’s warranted. And with Honky Tonk Angels, I’m pretty sure it’s warranted. Life’s too short to talk yourself out of enthusiasm…sing along!

 

It’s also not too late to subscribe to our season! We have a variety of subscription plans available for everyone – students to snowbirds and everyone in-between! Call (207) 942-3333 to learn more. By subscribing, you’re not only getting a ticket for these world-class shows, you’re becoming a producer. Your subscription money helps to produce these wonderful shows. Get in on the action.

 

Sing along. Be part of the conversation. Find those things in your life that are worth it. But maybe let someone else drive with the puppy…

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Amy Roeder

About Amy Roeder

Director of Education – Amy Roeder is pleased to be joining the staff at PTC. Amy received her BFA in theatre from the University of Evansville and her Master of Fine Arts in acting from The University of Georgia. She recently relocated to Bangor from Chicago where she taught and performed with famed comedy institution The Second City. Local audiences may have seen her onstage with Improv Acadia in Bar Harbor where she has been a company member since 2005. Amy has performed all over the country including at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park and with the Improv Asylum in Boston. In addition to teaching acting and improvisation classes all over the world, Amy is also designs and facilitates workshops in improvisational techniques for businesses. Amy hates writing in the third person.