Remarks on the Retirement of Mary Armstrong
The text below was delivered by Ethan Mathias at Mary Armstrong’s final faculty meeting at HSE HS.
I’ve known Mary Armstrong for over half of my adult life, and she has been there for me more times than I could possibly count.
But I was reminded of something important about MA, this past weekend as I updated the Drama Club Flickr account with photos from past shows. I realized that in comparison to the total number of pictures from past HSE productions, the number of pictures with MA is surprisingly few, and the pictures in which you can see MA’s face are even fewer.
That might sound weird that the number is so low—[I mean] Mary’s the person who’s the first one in and the one who locks up after the last one out.
And I thought, Why, among the twenty thousand set construction pictures I uploaded to Flickr, why aren’t there more of Mary’s face?
There are three answers--
The easy answer is because she was usually the one behind the camera and she doesn’t like having her picture taken.
The better answer is because she was off somewhere else or was turned away from the camera because she was working on something that demanded her full attention.
The real answer can be found in all the other pictures uploaded: photos of amazing sets coming together, snapshots of the preparation that goes into a good show, students’ faces beaming with pride after opening night, or wet with tears after the final curtain.
These photos capture some of the best moments in the lives of thousands of students who’ve walked the halls and stages of this school in the past 42 years, all made possible by Mary Armstrong.
In drama club we have a tradition called green room letters—open letters written by graduating students with shout-outs to the cast and crew of the show, which we read aloud backstage before performances. I’ve been reading through a bunch of these lately, and regardless of the show, regardless of the decade of the show, when they get to Mary, they almost always say some version of the following:
For these students, the feeling of family—of being part of something bigger than themselves, something important and wonderful, and yes, even, magical—that feeling provides purpose and strength. And long after they’ve forgotten what they learned about Greek gods or the Great Gatsby, they will remember the feeling of the family that MA welcomed them into.
Every year during the musical, Mary will joke at least once, that the kids better sing out or she’ll go on stage and sing, and nobody wants that. She’ll then start to demonstrate by singing “The Impossible Dream” from The Man of La Mancha. It’s a strange choice, and yet a fitting one, when you think about its final lines:
And the world will be better for this
That someone scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with their last ounce of courage,
to reach the unreachable stars.
Because of [you] Mary Armstrong, our world is better for this, and the stars are not unreachable.
We love you and we wish you the best as you begin your well-earned retirement.
Ethan Mathias, May 2020
But I was reminded of something important about MA, this past weekend as I updated the Drama Club Flickr account with photos from past shows. I realized that in comparison to the total number of pictures from past HSE productions, the number of pictures with MA is surprisingly few, and the pictures in which you can see MA’s face are even fewer.
That might sound weird that the number is so low—[I mean] Mary’s the person who’s the first one in and the one who locks up after the last one out.
And I thought, Why, among the twenty thousand set construction pictures I uploaded to Flickr, why aren’t there more of Mary’s face?
There are three answers--
The easy answer is because she was usually the one behind the camera and she doesn’t like having her picture taken.
The better answer is because she was off somewhere else or was turned away from the camera because she was working on something that demanded her full attention.
The real answer can be found in all the other pictures uploaded: photos of amazing sets coming together, snapshots of the preparation that goes into a good show, students’ faces beaming with pride after opening night, or wet with tears after the final curtain.
These photos capture some of the best moments in the lives of thousands of students who’ve walked the halls and stages of this school in the past 42 years, all made possible by Mary Armstrong.
In drama club we have a tradition called green room letters—open letters written by graduating students with shout-outs to the cast and crew of the show, which we read aloud backstage before performances. I’ve been reading through a bunch of these lately, and regardless of the show, regardless of the decade of the show, when they get to Mary, they almost always say some version of the following:
- that they have never met anyone as dedicated, as passionate, or as giving as MA,
- that “MA” is an appropriate nickname, because drama club is a family and MA has been like a mother to them
For these students, the feeling of family—of being part of something bigger than themselves, something important and wonderful, and yes, even, magical—that feeling provides purpose and strength. And long after they’ve forgotten what they learned about Greek gods or the Great Gatsby, they will remember the feeling of the family that MA welcomed them into.
Every year during the musical, Mary will joke at least once, that the kids better sing out or she’ll go on stage and sing, and nobody wants that. She’ll then start to demonstrate by singing “The Impossible Dream” from The Man of La Mancha. It’s a strange choice, and yet a fitting one, when you think about its final lines:
And the world will be better for this
That someone scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with their last ounce of courage,
to reach the unreachable stars.
Because of [you] Mary Armstrong, our world is better for this, and the stars are not unreachable.
We love you and we wish you the best as you begin your well-earned retirement.
Ethan Mathias, May 2020
Click here to see various video tributes/retrospectives created in celebration of her retirement.