My Dad, Greg Shaw

From the very beginning, my father was one of my biggest cheerleaders. He himself was a theatre director and high school theatre teacher who always pushed everyone he worked with to strive for their very best and bring the real world to life on the stage. For eighteen years, he never once missed a performance of mine and was certain he would be seated front row at my very first Broadway show as well as every one leading up to it. A terminal brain cancer diagnosis put a wrench in those plans.

Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an extremely aggressive, highly invasive

form of cancerous brain tumor categorized primarily by its poor prognosis after discovery, with most patients living only a few months. Those afflicted most commonly begin to suffer from seizures, personality or behavior changes, and pronounced neurological deficits. Though GBM ultimately claimed his life, my father was so much more than his diagnosis.

Beyond GBM

Throughout his life, he touched the lives of countless students, collaborators, and colleagues. He began directing when he was in his early twenties and continued for thirty years until his death, including sixteen incredible years at Pittsburg High School. While there, he was able to build a program from the ground up with an emphasis in equity for all students regardless of socioeconomic standing. Operating on a meager budget from the poorest county in Kansas where 60 per cent of his students lived below the poverty line, his goal was always to ensure that no student ever paid a dime to be involved with the arts. In 2017, he was recognized as an honorable mention for The Excellence in Theatre

Education Tony Award. Garnering countless recognitions and awards, he was inducted into the Kansas Thespians Hall of Fame and honored at the International Thespian Festival for his contributions to educational theatre for all.