Dear Youth Communication alumni:

We had a very memorable 25th Anniversary celebration at Symphony Space. Many people left the theater saying that it was an "uplifting" and "perfect" evening; others said that it should go "straight to Broadway."

On the evening of January 18th we were still getting over the shock of seeing "Stories by Youth Communication" in lights on the Symphony Space marquee when we noticed a huge crowd spilling out of the ticket lobby, down Broadway, and around the corner on 95th St. Even though we were expecting 800 people (a sell out), we were surprised to see a crowd clamoring to get into our show like it was a rock concert.

As people found their seats, they watched a 300-image slide show of current and former teen writers, artists, staff, and selected covers of New Youth Connections and Represent (formerly known as FCYU) covering our 25 year history. There were lots of funny pictures like: Efrain Reyes when he had a moustache, Keith with long, wavy hair, writers from the 1980s using typewriters, summer workshop groups goofing off in front of the FIT building, our old offices all around Chelsea, and those blue background headshots from holiday parties.

The show began with a 15-minute film that concisely described what we do. It focused on stories by writers Antwaun Garcia and Natasha Santos. Antwaun talked about writing his story attacking the crack baby myth. Then Natasha described her two-year(!) struggle to write a story about her reaction to the traumas of her life. Nora McCarthy, her editor, talked about how she helped Natasha find the focus for the story. (Natasha begins the process with the intention of writing about "love." But after reading many drafts which describe the pain and abuse Natasha endured, Nora suggests that it is really about "anger" and suddenly it ALL makes sense. Those editors!)

Most people expected the usual anniversary speeches and self-promotion, but as the 15-minute film progressed the audience began to realize that they were going to be treated to a special evening.

The film ended and the screen was reeled up to reveal a stage with huge graffiti panels, glowing red and orange in the lights, and beautifully tagged with the names of Youth Communication writers (from 1987 to the present) whose stories would be performed.

Then, three actors appeared on stage. They transformed themselves into the roles of 11 writers (and a few teen readers who had written letters to us) and performed excerpts from that were skillfully woven into a 45-minute performance. One current writer told me that watching the stories brought to life was "surreal." Another said that he felt like he was "right there in the moment with the writer." (There was also a DJ on stage playing a running soundtrack that complemented the stories.)

Many people were simply stunned--both by the performance, and by their reaction to it. And yes, there were laughs and even some tears as many people found at least one story resonated deeply within them.

The show ended with the writers of the stories joining the actors on stage. Giselle John (a former writer for the foster care magazine) was the show's dynamic emcee and asked all current and former writers, artists and staff of Youth Communication to stand up for a round of applause. As you can imagine, it was a proud moment for all of us.

If you saw the show, we hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you couldn't make it, know that we missed you that evening and hope we will have the chance to see you again-and we hope you feel very proud of the contributions you have made to Youth Communication and to the young people of New York City.