about the Merce Award ...
Mercedes Shirley was our mentor. You will see her picture in the lobby, welcoming you with both hands in the air. Eight years ago, only one month before this theatre opened, she passed away. While Mike Rademaekers and I were embarrassingly green and stressed out learning the theatre business, Merce was a veteran Broadway actress whose smile made us slow down and smile back at her. It was her belief in us that made us realize how a “possibility” can turn into a reality. Even before I could speak English well, she encouraged me to write a play.
“Oh, you can do it! Of course, you will not be perfect. It may take time, so why don’t you start now?”
She was right. Therefore, we just started to build this theatre before we could over think it.
Before the line between hobby and profession becomes fuzzy, artists learn their techniques from their masters by imitation. I only knew Merce for four years and it was not enough time to figure out what was her magical presence was all about. All we could do after her passing was to dedicate the theatre to how Merce would have run it.
We came up with our motto “Dream it, See it, Make it Happen” to remind ourselves to be idealists, visionaries and activists, and to encourage others to do the same.
While the arts can easily become secondary to survival for many lives in America, our goal is to nurture and create true renaissance artists to bring a little bit of joy and understanding to everyday life, anywhere and to anyone. I believe we have succeeded. There is no borderline between writing, directing and teching, cleaning, decorating, building a set or greeting people at the door in this theatre. Everyone does everything, and by doing so, we expand each other’s horizons just a little bit more.
Merce was wise, graceful and funny as hell. She made us laugh with her impersonations (Stella Adler being one of the best one she did). One evening, we were discussing her Thomas Payne script over glass of wine. I stopped and realized, “Wait… this lady, who was were friends with James Dean and Paul Newman, is discussing history with me… what the hell am I doing here?”
Moments like that were what we cherished most – having a “dialogue”. That is what we do here. Writers as young as five learn from talking aloud about their ideas for a play, discuss how to execute it and put it on a paper. Established actors come here to discuss how to make their solo shows more solid. We sit and exchange inspirations. And this theatre is the physicalization of those inspirations.
Mercedes was our guiding star, and after eight years, we are still trying to follow that star, keeping our heads high and marching on to get close to it. (Thank you to the lovely Fire Rose Productions Board for catching me whenever I am about to fall back or to lose my balance!.)
We thank The Pender Family for making this award possible, and being there everymoment and adopting our theatre family as their extended family. I personally thank them for their graceful presence.
Ahhh, the theatre. Tradition and respect should never be pushed aside!
~Kaz Matamura
Play is the beginning of knowledge. – George Dorsey
