I got lost in a TV show on the Oprah Winfrey Network the other day. It was a documentary called Most Valuable Players, about schools in a tri-county area of Pennsylvania and New Jersey putting on musicals, then hoping for nominations for an Academy Award equivalent called the Freddy Awards. I'd seen it before, but it snared me again.
These are schools with honest-to-God theater/music departments. Schools that have honest-to-God auditoriums with honest-to-God stages...like my high school did. (I was spoiled by that. Never taught in a school that had one of those, which is one of the reasons that I flip-flopped my major and minor courses in college. I started out as a theater major with an English minor, but switched them along about my sophomore year. I never regretted that. Many schools have no auditoriums, stages, or even care about drama/music, but English courses are a four-year requirement. Smart move on my part!)
In any case, I was enthralled watching that documentary. Watching those kids was like watching my own life as a performer, and my daughter's life as a performer. The kids are spirited, creative, and close. What a thrill to experience those moments with them! It brought it all back to me!
My high school put on three major productions a year. The "fall play" was open to anyone to audition. Then there was the musical, which was only open to members of A Cappella Choir, which was comprised of juniors and seniors. The "senior play" was only open to seniors to audition. In those days, dance was not as big a deal as it is today...and show choirs were unheard of. Selection for parts was mostly based on ability to act and sing. Period. Dancing would come after training.
Understand that I only entered that school district in 6th grade. I was a newcomer and not the kind of kid willing to make a splash, even if I had a splash to make. Oak Park-River Forest High School had 3,500 students. I was a very tiny little duckling in a huge pond! I had zero performing experience, but I watched. Oh, how I watched! I went to every performance the school did, and remarked to myself that those kids looked like they were having such a good time that I wanted to be part of that. I sneaked in to the program. Got myself to be props mistress. Learned a little bit about stage craft. Got into A Cappella Choir, so was eligible to be part of the musical my junior year. (That year the show was Brigadoon, and I managed a tiny little solo.)
By the fall of my senior year, I had the confidence to decide that I would audition for the fall play...Harvey. I even talked the kid who sat in front of me in homeroom to try out, also. Wonder of wonders, he and I got the leads! Then came the musical. Plain and Fancy...about a couple of New Yorkers who get lost in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. I got the female character lead in that! Then there was the senior play...She Stoops to Conquer...a very old play by Oliver Goldsmith...and I got the lead in that, too! Basically, I spent my entire senior year in high school in rehearsal and in glorious performance. I remember telling my mother that I wanted to stay 17 for the rest of my life because it had been such a fantastic year for me!
Where did my love of performing come from? I have no clue! I was a pretty quiet kid prior to our settling in the Chicago area after Navy-roaming. My daughter caught the bug and out-did me in stage presence...and now my granddaughter seems to be smitten. All I know is that I get goose-bumps from watching student performances in spirited situations where the only thing at risk is fear of failure. When I first started voice lessons in high school, my father complained to my mother "What's she going to do with this? Sing lullabyes to her babies?" After I got solo opportunities and lead parts, he never complained again!
I did other theater performances after high school...in Pontiac, IL, and again when we moved to Indiana in 1988....but I was in the throes of divorce then and it wasn't as much fun. I believe I was led by God to do what I could do when I could still do it. My singing voice is gone. My physical mobility is about shot. This is why I love watching shows that can remind me of what used to be. It all works!
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