Jobsite Ensemble Member Steven Sean Garland is the focus of this week’s Performance column in Creative Loafing. Check it out!

We’ve been extraordinarily blessed to have Steve working regularly with us since 2006 when he literally walked in off the street and bagged the part of Katurian in The Pillowman. He’s a damned fine talent and a nice guy to boot.

Steve appears with us next in Embedded and has already found tasty roles with us in the 0809 season.

Thanks, Steve, for making Jobsite as well as Bay area theater that much better just by being part of it.

To everyone else reading, the only way we keep people like Steve in town – as well as all the other brilliant artists this town is housing – is to make a serious run at making things stable and exceptional.

As companies, that means we need to step up our efforts in fundraising and raise the bar with our work on stage to keep theater a critical experience. As individuals you can show your support by making a sincere effort to get out more – even if it’s just to support those artists or those companies you feel an affinity for. Businesses, individuals and organizations can help by giving, or partnering with the many different groups in Tampa Bay who are working hard at making this area the brightest spot in the region.

I pine for the day people talk about moving to this area as opposed to looking for ways to get away from it. I feel the support building and tides changing, but I have to admit I sometimes worry that it won’t happen quickly enough or that the wave will break before it fully reaches shore.