Somewhat Happened!

There’s a secret to planning something big: you gather a bunch of talented people, you figure out what your goal looks like, then you break it into little pieces and check them off one-by-one. When you do it this way, and when you like who you’re working with, it can almost feel easy.

Pay the deposit. Finalize the lanyard design. Make the Instagram post. Double check meal options. Update the website. When you’re in the midst of all this, it’s easy to forget about that big squishy goal you’re working towards. Even once it starts, you’re in go-mode: checking things off, reacting to things as they come up, dealing with AV issues. But then a day or two later, you look back and realize, holy shit, we did something kind of magical!

The Somewhat Reunion was, in fact, magical in ways that I don’t think anyone expected it would be. It went beyond the lanyards and the meal options, and even the fireworks, though all that certainly helped. Mostly, it was magical because of the people.

And not just any people: a creative, kind, and accepting bunch from Queen’s Drama, QMT, and Players who somehow all found each other in the early 2000s. These misfits, to whom the leadership at the Queen’s School of Drama and Music wouldn’t give the time of day, but who went ahead and did it anyway. Like we did at Queen’s. Like drama kids always do.

We heard from so many people, both during and after the event, about how special the Reunion felt to them. Not just for the nostalgia (though there was plenty of that), but for getting back to that feeling of being surrounded by creative people again, brought together not for the need for profit or glory, but for community and creativity and fun.

Somewhat attendee Sheanna Beau James captured that feeling beautifully in a note she shared with us:

The weekend was a trust fall back in time - landing in the arms of peers with whom I had built bonds born of creativity, artistic explorations, and shared experience in my late teenage and early adult years. I knew I was looking forward to coming to the Somewhat Reunion, but I couldn’t have guessed what a sense of unspoken support and encouragement I would feel reconnecting with friends who knew me as I was exploring what it meant to be myself, and in so doing was able to literally remember parts of myself that I have ignored or neglected in the race to grow up and succeed.

So on behalf of the entire community, thank you all for making this a magical weekend.

QMT Donation Update #

Speaking of thanks, we wanted to send a HUGE shoutout to everyone who donated a bit extra to support QMT. The results are in, and thanks to your generosity, we’re thrilled to be donating $5,000 to Queen’s Musical Theatre to help them keep creating kick-ass work at a time when they need it most.

A special thank-you goes to Megan Deeks, who personally contributed $1,000!

We’ll stay in touch with QMT and let you know how the funds are put to use. We’re also chatting with them about ways to keep supporting their work, and we’ll share those opportunities soon for anyone who wants to stay involved.

Event Photos #

We’re working on collecting all of the great event photos that we have access to and posting them to the site. If you have any to share (or you’d rather your photo weren’t posted), let us know. You can drop them in the Discord or email to committee@somewhatreunion.org.

Somewhat’s Next? #

Another theme we heard from a lot of people over the weekend was, “what’s next?” Will we do a reunion every year? Every 5 years? What about doing, you know, theatre together?

To all of that we say: maybe! We all went into this thinking it would be a one-time thing. We’ll do a reunion, and then move onto other things. And maybe it’s just the post event high we’re all still riding, but it sure feels like there’s an opportunity to keep this thing going in some form.

For now, we’re going to keep the website up, where we’ll collect and share out many of the photos we collected and post any other updates as they develop.

We’re also keeping the Discord and Facebook group going. Feel free to use these to promote works you’re involved with, find people to collaborate with, or just reminisce or share jokes. And if there’s something you’d like us to promote through this site, let us know!

And beyond that? Well, your humble committee is going to take a well-earned break over the summer, think about what we want to do next, and regroup in the fall to see what that looks like.

If you have an idea about what that is, or want to be involved somehow, let us know! You can share on Facebook or Discord, comment here, or email us at committee@somewhatreunion.org.

On a personal note, being involved with this committee, reconnecting with old friends, and making new ones has been such a rewarding experience for me. I don’t think I realized how much I missed the process of ‘putting on a show’ with creative and kind people. So whatever is next, if you’ll have me, count me in.

Love,

Tom & The Somewhat Committee (Eleri, Felicity, Izzy, Kate, Peter, Sarah, Stacey.) 💜