This isn’t a particularly landmark year, but 12 years ain’t nothing. However, it IS our first year (in February to be exact) as The Bearded Company, and I am proud of that.
First, as usual, we would like to thank our fans, whether you are in our home cities of LA or Minneapolis, or anywhere else that we have been lucky enough to perform or teach. THANK YOU. Thank you a million times. We may not be conventionally famous, but you sure make us feel that way.
Second, someone asked recently, “How have the Beards stayed together for so long?” I figured this was a good time to try to answer that. Unfortunately, I realized there is no super simple answer. If I had to break it down, I think a lot of it has to do with trust, passion and commitment. Our trust for each other has been built for years, both on and off stage. Trust is such a powerful and fragile thing. It is earned, must be continually worked on and sometimes takes brutal honesty, both with your partners and with yourself. This isn’t always easy, but we are better for it and is something I am proud we have built. Our group’s shared passion for scripted and unscripted theater (performing it, creating it and teaching it) creates a driving force in all of us. This passion is what keeps us coming back, exploring new elements, new show styles and new collaborations. We have seen the benefits that have come with letting our passion and curiosity push us into new things and to make both big and small changes. Along with that trust and passion is our commitment. Commitment to each other, our group and our work. Without this commitment, we absolutely would not be where we are today or even still together. This commitment doesn’t mean we HAVE to do something simply because we agreed to it, it means we NEED to do it to feel whole. It’s a commitment that is engrained into us.
As I write that, I guess I’m realizing that in the end, we have stayed together for so long because we need to do this together to feel whole. And that feels rare to me. Maybe it’s not, but it feels that way to me and I’m proud of it.
We are lucky to have stumbled into this. For me personally (Joe Rapp), I can hardly fathom that it’s been 12 years. 12 YEARS! FUUUUUCK. Kudos to all the company members, past and present (Matthew, Joshua, Paul, Tyler, Travis, Lucas, Cody, MJ, Tyler, Steven, Torrey) and all of the guests/collaborators we’ve had the pleasure to work with along the way that have shared that trust, passion and commitment.
If it ended tomorrow, I’d be proud of the accomplishments, but my guess is we still have some time ahead of us.
Stay Bearded.
————-
Joe Rapp
Managing Director
