- Okay, just got the text that he's coming right now,
so be quiet.
I'm gonna get in position.
Everybody ready?
Okay, into the curtain we go.
Shh.
Hey guys, I'm James Maslow,
and we are at my old school,
the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts,
so we are here today to surprise one of my old
and my absolute favorite teachers,
Mr Doyle, who at this school is an absolute legend.
Mr Doyle just retired last year,
so myself, a few of my old classmates showed up,
and then about 20 of the current students
in musical theater.
Everybody's written down a note just to remind him
that we still love him and we're still thinking about him,
and his impact is not going away anytime soon
even though he's retired.
I'm excited, man.
He has no idea any of this is happening.
So, we gotta get moving before he gets here.
- [Man] What I need you guys to look at is
everything down of the proscenium line.
- [Man 2] What does it look like when it's done?
- That's what these guys are supposedly trying
to figure out with laser beam shots of stuff
because they're gonna have a diagnostic of the entire thing.
- What's up Doyle?
- Is this like some kind of weird little setup thing here?
- It's a little bit of a setup thing.
- Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.
- No, you're...
- I realized that I really had never properly thanked you
for all that you had impacted in my life,
and it's more than I think you know.
So I wanted to come down here and say that
and brought a few friends as well
that wanted to just say a little thank you to you.
A lot of current students...
- Dear Mr Doyle, you created an environment
that I haven't found to this day.
- You showed me so much love and support.
- You are unendless source of inspiration.
- Our opinions mattered, our talent mattered,
and it mattered so much that I would take your word
over anybody else that I knew
in my life at the time, specifically.
- You've done so much for my family and my brother
and our lives would be totally different
if you hadn't been in it,
so I just want to thank you
and I'm really happy that I got the chance to meet you.
- You have been one father figure in my life.
And I would just like to say thank you
and for everything you've done for me
and that you found me find my ballet.
- I'm not sure that you fully understand
just how much you mean to us,
how much even after all these years
that you really mean to me.
You're one of the biggest reasons
that I decided to pursue a career in the arts,
one of the biggest reasons why I have a career
in music and film that I do today.
And it's been a long time since
I've been in the black box theater
and been in your classroom,
but your lessons, and more so your motivation,
I carry with me to this day.
I love you bud, and will do my best
to pass along all the amazing gifts that you gave me.
Thanks, Thizzle, love you bud.
- Thizzle.
- What a treat.
What a completely unexpected treat.
- Well everybody did their job very well.
- They sure did.
I had a really high school.
I dropped out really young,
and I always said I wanted to be
for 15, 16, 17, and 18 year olds
that person that I never had.
And you make me feel like maybe I was successful in that,
and that gives my life purpose.
You make me proud of me.
I've always been proud of you.
It's been harder for me to be proud of me,
but at moments like this I'm proud of me, so thank you.
cool.
Now about this pit.
- Yeah, right.
All right guys, it has been an unbelievable day.
Huge thanks to SoulPancake for making this all happen,
and remember if you've got a teacher
who was impactful in your life,
be sure to reach out and thank them.
It goes a long way.
Later.
♪ SoulPancake ♪