Doug Rosen - A Commemoration

This is a commemorative speech I wrote for my Speech Class about Doug Rosen. The video unfortunately cut off the first sentence which was, ""You're my favorite today'". Thank you, Janie, for the interview =]

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"You're my favorite today." These are the four words that every actor in the Arvada Center's Teen Drama Camp wanted to hear at the end of rehearsal from our director, Doug Rosen. To hear these words meant that you had in some way exemplified one of the values that Doug appreciated most -- coincidentally, the same values that made up the great man, Doug Rosen. He was an incredible person in many ways, but three of his qualities stood out the most: his dedication, his humility, and his love.
I acted under Doug's direction for two years, and knew him for three. During this time, he proved over and over what dedication truly is. "He didn't care about stuff," his mom said, "stuff meant nothing to him." Instead, he was focused on the people in his life, especially his students. It was not uncommon for Doug to be acting in one show and directing another while still showing up five days a week to direct our summer camp play. We didn't know it at the time, but Doug's life was harder than just participating in three shows at once -- but having been diagnosed with HIV in 1986 and full-blown AIDS in 1990 never stopped him from working his ass off for us. Doug had created the summer camp we all loved, and had nurtured and fought for its development for over a decade -- taking us from no sets and homemade costumes to the chance to work with professional makeup, costume, set, and sound designers. Doug wanted the best for us, and wanted us to learn what professional theater was all about, no matter how much effort he had to put in to achieve that.
Doug Rosen was also the most humble man I've ever met, and this was exemplified by the fact that no one person knows about all of his achievements. As a young man touring the prestigious Bennington University in Vermont with his mom, a professor stopped to congratulate him on his selection for the Who's Who Among American High School Students -- a esteemed honor that his mom hadn't known about until that moment because Doug simply hadn't mentioned it. In later years after his grim diagnosis, Doug continued to make great strides, including starting a chapter of Hearts and Voices (a group that sings to people with AIDS) and a chapter of Phamaly (a theater group for the mentally and physically handicapped) here in Denver. Of course, I only recently learned this from Doug's mother. I also learned from Doug's best friend that it was Doug who initiated the movement for putting bike racks on the front of RTD buses -- something else his mother was unaware of until I told her. We can only wonder what other feats Doug accomplished that only a privileged few know about.
But the most defining characteristic of Doug was his radiant love -- for his family, his students, and for life. In his summer camp, Doug took a bunch of angsty and dispassionate teens suffering from things like depression, Asperger's, and bad backgrounds and turned them into semi-professional actors. We were difficult at times, but Doug's encouragement and support were so persistent that it changed the lives of even the most unresponsive teens. He never rejected anybody, no matter how difficult they may have been to work with at the start. He saw the talent in every one of us and taught us how to use and develop it by believing in us, and teaching us how to believe in ourselves. Doug wanted everyone to live every day like it was their last -- possibly because he knew any day could be his. Put simply by his mother, "He just had a way of making people feel safe." His love for his family was also clear, especially in his last word -- "Mom."
"If there's such a thing as a beautiful death, Doug had one," she told me. Doug passed away in 2009 after a long and painful battle with liver cancer. The perfectly worded inscription on his gravestone reads, "Doug Rosen lived to make others feel special." It was a heart-breaking blow to those who looked up to him as a director, cast-mate, mentor, son, brother, and even a father figure. We have learned though to take comfort in the fact that Doug, so full of dedication, humility, and love, lived a full life right up to the end. He now lives on in the legacy his students perpetuate as they take to heart his lessons about theater, life, and love. As for me? Well, Doug will always be my favorite.

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