Celebrating 25 Years: Patrick Graham

As we approach our 25th Anniversary production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat this summer, we’re celebrating by looking back through our history.

Starting as a student, Patrick Graham has been an important part of the First Act community in countless ways including being a former Artistic Director!

“This organization means so much to me because I look at my community of friends right now and the community of people who really are pouring into me, and to Becca, and to now Wesley, and will continue to do that. And an overwhelming majority of those people are connections that we made at First Act.”
 
“Thinking about my son and just, you know that you’re going to take good care of your kids. There’s this unknown when he steps outside of that space that is my family and I know that there are spaces like First Act where he’s going to be taken such good care of and already is taken good care of by the people who work here. You know, Becca took him to the dance recital rehearsal yesterday and just like, already the amount of love that is being shown towards him.”
 
“I just think about all the other students that have got to experience that, how I got to experience that and the adult that it turned me into. And that is I mean, you can’t put a price tag on that. But if you did, it would be a substantial donation to First Act Theatre Arts. And in the memo line, you can put Wesley Graham. That’s my son.”

What's Happening at First Act?

Praying with Hope for the Future

At First Act Theatre Arts, we are excited and prayerfully looking forward, with abundant hope, that our next home is becoming a reality. Throughout the next year of our Capital Campaign, it is imperative that we make this journey rooted in Christ and the purposes created for us.

High School Musical Jr. Director’s Letter

First Act’s Middle School Overnight Camp is always my favorite week of the summer. When I heard that High School Musical Jr. was our show this year, somehow my excitement for this week grew exponentially. My first camp experience with First Act was a High School Musical summer camp when I was five years old, and I cannot comprehend that I am now directing the musical with the same organization!

Nine to Five Director’s Letter

Before the 9 to 5 movie and musical we know and love, there was a movement that inspired both. 9to5 is an organization created in 1973 by clerical workers to respond to the inequities, unfairness, and outright harassment and discrimination they were experiencing in the workplace. These courageous, tenacious, and fierce women organized and banded together to advocate for themselves and for a better future for working women. 9to5 still exists today, fighting every day for equal wages, paid family leave, and a harassment-free workplace. Their work continues to advance racial and gender justice through community-led advocacy as they seek widespread, long-lasting change.