To the M ayor and C ouncil M em bers of the C ity of Fairf ield M y Nam e is Joseph A brew and I grew up in Fairf ield. A ttending E lem entary, Junior H igh and graduating fo rm A rm ijo High S chool. In light of the recent bids fro m individuals seeking to contro l and m anage the D ow ntow n Fairf ield Theater I w ould like to m ake a few rem arks on behalf of DA E S pring and the M issouri S treet Theater w ho are currently m anaging the theater and have been doing so fo r the last 15 years.
A s a long tim e resident of Fairf ield I have seen a lot changes throughout the years and have w atched a lot of businesses and shops com e and go. I can w ithout hesitation say that D ay S pring, M issouri S treet Theater (M S T ) and M issouri S treet Y outh Theater are w ithout a doubt the best things to com e to that Theater and to the city of Fairfield in general. I w ould like to speak on both the W hat m akes m e qualified to speak about the quality of the pro ductions put on by M S T . Let's just say that E xceptional M usic and Q uality S ound runs through m y veins. M usic has alw ays been in m y fam ily. M y Father w as a professional trum pet player and his sister w as a professional opera singer. A nd I got accustom ed to hearing top level sound and m usical perf orm ances. I typically accom panied m y father on all his m usical practices and w hen he w as betw een ·gigs he w ould practice at hom e. P lease know that this w as not the kind of "practice" that m ost people w ould envision. W e had full on A ltec V oice of the Theater speakers in our living room and m y father w ould put on D oc S evrensen's A rrival" record and crank up the volum e until it sounded exactly like you w ere right in the m iddle of a live S tage B and during a concert . Then he w ould play his trum pet right along w ith D oc S everinsen m atching him note fo r note so cl osely that you could barely even tell there w ere tw o trum pets playing the sam e part.
The tw o of them w ould scream their trum pet together song after song until the album ended . A s a result of all m y exposure to m usic and the arts I grew up w ith a high expectation fo r good quality m usic production.
I w ant you to know that I w as in the D ow ntow n Fairf ield Theater the first year that it opened. M y Father w as playing in the S olano S ym phony and another O rchestra that perf orm ed there in their various C hristm as plays and w hatnot.
A nd I think it is im portant fo r you to know that the sound quality w as not great.
Having becom e accustom ed to such a great sound system at hom e I m ust say that w e rarely find com parable quality sound in the venues that w e visit and the sam e scenario existed fo r the Fairf ield D ow ntow n Theater ci rca 19 90. I m ention this so that you know that D ae S pring and the M issouri S treet Theater have m ade significant im provem ents to the sound system since they have been there.
I w as literally shocked w hen m y fam ily and I attended the M S T adult pro duction of B eauty and the Beast because I w as rem em bering it from befo re. I rem em ber it as being m ediocre to average and fa r behind the quality of sound that I had
becom e accustom ed to at hom e. I can't say exact ly w hat w as done or changed because I haven't asked, but I suspect that Day has invested quite a bit in bringing the sound up to its current perf orm ance level and it w ould be im portant to recognize that if she left so w ould her sound equipm ent.
A fa vorite past tim e of m ine is to w atch /listen to M usicals and really w ell recorded album s. M y son has grow n up w ith the sam e sound quality benchm ark and started w atching the M usicals w ith us at an early age. "Les M iserables" and "T he G reatest S how m an" are tw o of our favorites and w e w atch them each about 4-6 tim es a year. I m ention this so that you know that I am aw are of w hat really good audio system s sound like. A nd very few are honestly up to par. I have been to som e really good concerts (B arbara S triesand and Josh G raban) and have also been to som e ,I w as quite disappointing ones due to the audio quality such as the C eline D ion concert at C esars Palace. I have have even left an A ndrea B ocelli concert that I attended w ith m y Father at the interm ission after decici ng that w e could better spend our tim e if w e left and w ent hom e and sim ply listened to an album of his on the couch. S o you can trust m e w hen I say that It is both nice and rare to have a venue like M S T and M S Y T w here w e can go and count on a good quality sound.
O ur son B entley has taken to singing and like his G randfather has perf ect pitch and im peccable tim ing. In looking fo r a singing group for our son to join w e started auditioning the groups around us and traveling to see w hat they have to offer. W e have been to see J&S in V acaville, The C om m unity Theatre in D ixon, The D avis M usical Theatre C om pany A dult and Y outh Theaters, S acram ento Theatre A nd R ocklin Theatre. I w ant you to know that in m y opinion none of these venues have even held a candle to the quality of the pro ductions put on by M issouri S treet Theatre. The closest com parable venue to M S Y T that w e have found is over an hour aw ay at 14 2 Thro ckm orton Theatre in M arin just befo re the G olden G ate B ridge. ·
W hat M issouri S treet Theatre has created is nothing short of extraordinary and I encourage all of those voting on w ho w ill be the best Theatre m anager to attend one of the M issouri S treet Theater productions and find out w hat you have. I do not share praise unless I really m ean it and M S T and M Y S T are tw o of the best things to ever happen fo r both the C ity of Fairf ield and the M usical Theatre w orld in general.
The first production that I w atched from M issouri S treet Theatre w as an adult pro duction of B eauty and the B east and they put on of the best live theatrical pro ductions I have ever seen (and I have been to a LO T of theater pro ductions.
There w as a live O rchestra below the stage and the Talent w as not just stacked but m any of the singers w ere com ing from significant distances just to be a part of this show and having seen the M S T pro ductions as w ell as m any of the other
productions around w e can see w hy. M ST is sim ply that great and everyone wants to be a part of som ething great like that.
O f considerable m ention is the M issouri Street Y outh Theatre program . This is not just another "M y kid w ants to try out theater" afterschool program . It is not a tim e filler like so m any of the other youth program s out there; som ething fo r kids to partici pate in like an after school program . This is a top notch program developing singers and on stage talent like no other. This is w here kids go w ho want to develop their singing an on stage talent. To give you an idea of how good this youth pro gram is I recently had the opportunity to attend the first show ing of their "Frozen Jr" m usical and it w as so incredibly w ell done that I bought tickets and w ent to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and even the s" and final performance.
Yes, my son was ln the Show, but I did not intend to go to all of the shows. I only did so because the quality of the shows was that good and I wouldn't want to miss any of it. In live theatre you only get one opportunity to hear it and I hoped to burn this into my memory so that it might last forever. To give you an idea of how good .it was there is a professional "Frozen" musical put on by adults that is available to watch on the Disney App and the MSYT Frozen Jr. Performance was better than that. While you may watch the one on the Disney App and say this is pretty good, it pales pretty far in comparison and did not make the cut in our family on being worthy of watching it more than once.
What equally impresses me with MSYT is their commitment to the indivuadals and the arts. Genuinely putting the people in front of profits and revenue.
Keeping their prices affordable and even raising money to provide scholarships for those who might not be able to participate without assistance. It serves as a stark contrast in comparison to the organization in the area that are aimed at profits and revenue. Raising money and providing scholarships for those who might otherwise be unable to participate in youth theatre is something that is most definitely above and beyond the norm. Since June 2023 I am told that a total of $42,000.00 has been granted in scholarships for those wishing to participate but needing financial assistance to be able to do so.
Please grant Dae Spring and the MST/MYST the ability to continue running the venue. It is not another booking agent and someone looking to manage and skim profits off the top to cover a managerial salary. It is a training and mentorship program for our youth. It is a quality oriented arts team and truly a Gem for the city of Fairfield.
Sincerely
Joseph Abrew
707 -446-2036