Cornerstone Omnibus

I had my last Board meeting on Saturday, and it was a very moving day. It always is: one thing you can count on about that group...you'll always leave feeling absolutely charged up.

My fellow board members gave me a stunning piece to hang on my wall: I'm too shy to repeat any of the very kind words, but they were crafted by Shishir Kurup and featured a really cool piece of SPARC artwork courtesy of Debra Padilla. I didn't really need any more inspiration, but that was a pat on the back that's good for another 50,000 miles.

At one point, Bill Pullman asked about "what we should watch out for," in other words given the seven years I've been watching, what are the pitfalls?

I immediately flashed on a little piece of the interview I shot with George Haddad, better known as "Jiddu" ("Grandpa"), who is 85 and still going 85. I had asked him all my standard questions last month (for the video and for the Omnibus), but he stopped me from cutting camera and said (and here I am more or less approximating):

"I want you to hear my dream for Cornerstone. My dream for Cornerstone is that there is a Cornerstone in every city, every county, every state. There should be a Cornerstone everywhere, for everyone."

I explained that I thought the pitfall would be to see the company as just a company, not as something more: a movement, an idea about theater and public discourse that's a lot larger than just the next show or the next few shows. Jiddu's ambition is right on the money.