Opinion

The arts just make better humans. by Michael Paul Hirsch, Executive Director "Children and art… children and art…” Several recent events in my personal life have inspired me to do something that I‘ve been putting off for over 10 years: updating my will. Big changes like sending my children away to college, becoming empty-nesters (or “free-birds” as my wife likes to call it), purchasing an electric vehicle, and making a major career change, are just a few things that have happened since last I updated my will. Life goes by so fast that as a meditative and deliberate person, I [...]

by Michael Paul Hirsch, Executive Director Since stepping in to SBMT's Executive Director position in July, I have been delving into documents and spreadsheets, agreements and archives to compile, organize, and analyze over 60 years of SBMT producing theatre here in the South Bay. My goal was to become as much of an expert on SBMT as I could and to form a point of view of what it means to run a theatre company in 2025 and into the future.  Over the last few weeks, I created a benchmarking framework so that I can stay on the pulse of [...]

by Michael Paul Hirsch, Executive Director and Walter M. Mayes, Artistic Director At South Bay Musical Theatre, every costume stitch, scenic brushstroke, musical note, and marketing image tells a human story. These are crafted by artists, technicians, and volunteers who pour their time and talent into creating something authentic and memorable. Our goal is to ensure that theatre remains a hands-on, inclusive, local, and ethically grounded cultural institution where every contribution is personal, intentional, and human-made. That’s why we’ve adopted a clear new AI policy on use of artificial intelligence (AI) in our creative process about ensuring that our work [...]

“I am not a robot” by Michael Paul Hirsch, Executive Director Why do we gather in a darkened room to watch people sing, dance and step into someone else’s shoes? Because theatre reminds us who we actually are and inspires us to be who we can become. In a world that urges us to be faster, more efficient, more robotic—where productivity often takes priority over people—theatre reminds us of what it costs to forget our humanity. Community theatre is more than entertainment. It’s a shared act of creativity, empathy, and connection. It’s messy. It’s raw. It’s real. And above all, [...]