Why I Do What I Do

It was opening night of a Broadway show. The first Broadway show for which my own law firm had worked as production counsel – THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN with Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella.I took my seat in the center of the third row, surrounded by the show’s producers. We chatted amongst ourselves about how excited we were to finally be at this point. For me, the process had taken about 18 monthsAnd then the thing happened. The curtain went up, the actors took the stage, and a living, breathing entity was born. The audience and the cast merged and became one with the story as we all began to experience the performance together. I was aware of being a part of something larger than myself.For 90 minutes this new life filled the theater. And then, it was done, and every member of the audience took a little piece of the show home with them. It is thrilling to be part of a team that creates something larger than the sum of its parts, and even more thrilling when that something has an impact on the lives of others the way this show does.Broadway is a tough business, and the show only ran for 5 weeks. But the length of the run is no indicator of the value of the experience. And there will be many, many more productions of THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN to come.What makes me especially proud is that this particular production marked a number of Broadway debuts – producers Larry Kaye and Van Dean, director Molly Smith, casting director Geoff Josselson and production counsel Eric S. Goldman LLC. Just what Broadway needs, some fresh blood.Anyway, I’m just grateful for the reminder of why I do what I do.