Welcome to EM West Productions
Evelyn Williams-Moore, M.A., Ed.M.
I grew up with dance and music lessons and a mom who frequently rehearsed for singing gigs at home. There was always an air of joy and excitement in preparing for a recital or in watching my mom rehearse. So, I knew early in life that there was something special about engaging in the arts…a kind of magic that happened. My knowing was further confirmed at nine years old when my fourth-grade class took a Puppet Theatre trip. I had anxiously imagined for weeks what it would be like. The day finally arrived.
Sitting in a huge auditorium, the excited chattering of a hundred children changed to hushed anticipation as the lights slowly dimmed and the music gradually swelled. Suddenly, a spotlight focused on red velvet curtains which opened to reveal a beautiful garden and into that garden tottered a miniature person, arms and legs dangling in air, obviously supported by wires, obviously not real, but in my fourth-grade mind, better than real: magic! I remember being totally transformed and engaged; my first theatre experience enhanced my lifelong love affair with the arts: music, dance, and now, drama and theatre.
I have worn many artistic hats: actor, director, writer, casting director, on-air arts reporter in several mediums: theatre, film, television and radio. Also, I have been a life-long teacher of the arts and humanities at the university level as well as k-12 in both public and private schools. Discovering the power and the magic of imagination early in life has served me well.
It was Albert Einstein who said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Whatever hat I have worn in whatever context, I have found these words to be true over and over.
EMWest Productions is a full circle moment for me: it represents engagement in the artistic process in new and exciting ways; it offers the opportunity to pass the fruits of my imagination to those who come after me; and finally, because we both believe in the power of the arts to “heal, inspire or motivate,” EMWest productions allows a continuing collaborative adventure with my husband, Mel, on projects we both hold dear.
Melvin Madero Moore, Jr., Ph.D.
Why do I write? It’s difficult. At times, it’s madding, sometimes torturous. However, it becomes fulfilling when a line of dialogue or a scene says what it needs to say, elicits the emotion it needs to convey.
My love of writing was discovered by chance or as noted psychotherapist, Carl Jung reasoned, because of the occurrence of synchronicity, not merely a coincidence, but a meaningful coincidence. While in graduate school studying to become a psychologist, my wife, Evelyn, who was also in graduate school at the time, studying theatre, asked me to script a series of improvisational vignettes she created about African American relationships. Despite never having written a word of dialogue, I agreed. I don’t why I agreed, but I did – without hesitation. Our collaboration, my writing and her directing, resulted in The Black Dyad, a series of vignettes that enjoyed a year-long run in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
As a watched the audience during every performance, I was fascinated that my written words could elicit emotions in others. But, in fact, every performance was an emotional experience for me as well.
A television adaption followed on WGBH-TV, Boston. A year later, The Black Dyad aired nationally on the Public Broadcasting System and earned a New England Regional Emmy.
Years ago, I was told by a film producer, who had optioned one of my scripts, that I had a “gift.” If that is true, then I believe I have an obligation, as with all individuals with the ability to heal, inspire or motivate, to share that gift with others. So here I am. Why do I write? Because I must.