From the Desk of the Executive Director: Thank You for a Wonderful 2013!

Much like Santa’s elves, the members of our production team for Amadeus have been hard at work preparing their designs and concepts for a formal unveiling at our kick-off event in January. Immediately following that presentation, we will be sharing their renderings and inspirations with you on Facebook and Twitter. If you haven’t yet “liked” BoHo Theatre, consider going to Facebook or Twitter and joining our conversation. You’ll hear updates about BoHo, opportunities to get involved, and see behind-the-scenes activity for 2014 productions: Amadeus, Myths and Hymns, and Parade.

To our audience: Wishing you and yours a fantastic holiday season. Thank you for making BoHo a part of your artistic story. We couldn't have done any of this without you.

To our Company members and Board of Directors: Thank you for all you do to keep us going throughout the year. Your passion, commitment, and dedication to BoHo and its future represent all that has made our company strong and successful.

The Company members of BoHo are a volunteer staff, and while we do work tirelessly throughout the year to bring each production to its feet, it is you, our patrons, who help nurture and support our artistic efforts. If you can, I invite you to show your support for BoHo by making a monetary donation to help us continue to support the art in 2014. Your tax deductible donations will subsidize our production expenses, including our actors, singers, and dancers; our costumes, our sets, our props, and more.

On behalf of myself, our company, and our Board, I wish you and yours a happy holiday season! We look forward to your visit in 2014! From Pygmalion to Veronica’s Room, we have shared the Bohemian Pillars with a wonderful audience and community who were thoughtful enough to make BoHo Theatre a part of their artistic story this year. I look forward to welcoming you back in 2014 for Amadeus, which will be produced at Stage 773 in February.

Being Bohemian: Meg Love

BoHo Theatre's Production Coordinator Meg Love, on what it means to be bohemian:

Before I even knew anything of BoHo Theatre, I don’t know if I really had an accurate interpretation of what being "Bohemian" meant. What I did know was that it was what I wanted to be. To "high school me," it meant thinking outside of the box, being offbeat, being "alternative," being cool and funky and doing all of this with like-minded individuals. I equated it with modern-day hippies or beatniks— or at least having that kind of style, which I found so very cool. And so, in an effort to be Bohemian, I ended up wearing a lot of paisley.

Fast-forward about 10 years and I happened to work on a show for BoHo Theatre— and I was drawn back to working for the company again and again until I finally became a company member in 2012. The reason I returned for show after show was because it was an environment where all artists are encouraged to flourish. No one was ever told that their ideas were too "out there." In fact, some of the wackiest ideas produce the best work.

This concept is the heart of innovation and BoHo embraces those it. I’m not sure anyone here has ever said that something is impossible. We only say, "Why not? How can we make that work for us?" Given our limited budgets, it would be very easy to rule out hundreds of the ideas our directors, designers, actors and even administrators have had over the years. But, we don’t. We pool our resources. We call on our company, our affiliates and our board to do some creative problem solving. We use objects we have at hand and turn them into something new.

These people, the BoHo family as it were, are cool individuals. They're funky and alternative and I love working with each and every one of them because it is in that spirit of innovation that we are able to create anything we can imagine to touch the hearts and minds of our audiences.

So I guess, after all these years, I was never really that far off with my concept of "Bohemian." Only, it's less about your style and more about how you live. What really makes a Bohemian is the innovative spirit. What truly makes us cool is a can-do attitude that believes that anything is possible and makes something out of nothing. And so I have now found myself exactly where I always wanted to be — thinking outside of the box with like-minded individuals.

Though I still wear a good deal of paisley.

Throughout BoHo Theatre's milestone 10th Season, BoHo company members will be revealing what being "bohemian" means to them. What does Bohemianism and BoHo Theatre mean to you? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook!