What first made you fall in love theatre?- Page 2

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:04am

" I chose a matinee performance of A Chorus Line. So, I hold Kelly Bishop personally responsible for the incalculable amount of money I've spent on theater in the past 37+ years."

Ditto. Dead center mezzanine of the Shubert while a sophomore in high school. Showed up excited beyond belief. Went home a blathering wet crying emotional mess. Was hooked for life.

Consequently, I look back and realize I should have bought stock in Kleenex for all the other truceacratic (sp?) moments I'd yet to have.

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:31am

I saw a lot of community theatre as a kid. Being raised in the late Eighties and early Nineties, like most kids, I was a fan of what later would be known as the "Disney Renaissance," when Disney films began to function like, and be written by the same people as, contemporary Broadway hits. I did the little school shows and such, albeit reluctantly, because they were lame by ANYONE'S standards- the end of year show, the Christmas pageant, etc.

My middle school had, for a while, a mandatory "everyone needs at least one extracurricular" program. I was in the school's ramshackle thrown-together band for a brief period, but as that started falling apart, I needed something else, and was persuaded, because I could sing decently, to try out for the school musical, which was "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown." It was that or basketball, and I had zero skills necessary for basketball- I was the sort who, while I tolerated and occasionally enjoyed casual sports, would blank out when thrown in the middle of a chaotic, frenetic situation (i.e., any not-casual sporting event).

So, I auditioned for the show, and out of nowhere, I was cast as Schroeder. My first audition, and I had a lead. While I wasn't QUITE sold on the whole "performing" thing, it was my first moment of intrigue. Damn, I thought, maybe I'm good at something! Doing that show introduced me to a few things that became major assets to me as a performer throughout the years: I'm a decent singer and actor, certainly no Aaron Tveit, but I have an extremely malleable voice. Dialects, characters, multiple voices, impersonations, all of these things come extremely easily to me. Additionally, I have a knack for physical comedy, clowning and stage stunts. A middle school show, naturally "Charlie Brown" gave me ample opportunities for all of the above.

Learning to "rein it in" and just play the role, just sing the part came later, when I played the King in eighth grade's "King And I." Nonetheless, the King is decidedly a character role, albeit not an exactly comic one, so building that character ground up was a lot of fun for me. But the moment that made me really love theatre came a year later, doing the first regional high school production of "Beauty and the Beast" in my state. The cast loved each other so much, and encouraged me so much in my minor star turn. We joke, we profess that theatre is for the audience. And we give it to them, sure, but it's not for them. It's for us. We do this because it makes us feel good- we like the cameraderie, or the adrenaline, or the glitz and glamour, or something.

Theatre, for performers at least, is a sport. There's competition, there's showmanship, you can get penalized for showboating. We say we do it for the fans, it's all for them, but if we hated it, we wouldn't be here. It's punishing and demanding and it doesn't usually give much reward. So let's be honest with ourselves- a big reason we're up here onstage is for us, and they're just the enablers.

(I didn't realize how much I wrote- later on I'll write about my discovery of writing and composing, because that's a separate journey. But only if people feel like reading it!)

[Marcellus2]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:57am

I was obsessed with Saturday Night Live and watched the Best Of DVDs all the time. I eventually found out about Second City so I began taking classes there and fell in love with improvisational theatre.

In 8th grade my class went on a field trip to see a production of A Comedy of Errors at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. That is when I fell in love with plays, and instantly thought "this is what I want to do."

[boggess]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 12:09pm

I was always interested in acting, so in the sixth grade I was in Annie. I had all of the songs memorized within a day and I listened to it non-stop. After Annie I had sort of a falling out until eighth grade. All of my friends were talking about Spring Awakening, which was still on Broadway at that point. The first song I heard from that show was "Left Behind" and I cried. And I'd say that was the true beginning.

[GottaHaveAGimmick]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 12:18pm

I had heard the OBC-LP from Chorus Line, but never saw it. 1st national touring company came to Atlanta and I got 5th row seats in the Fabulous Fox Theatre. When it was over, I couldn't get out of the seat. My legs would not work. I was so drained emotionally (didn't know anything about the gay storyline) and knew I just witnessed storytelling nearing perfection. I finally got up to leave,but was in a trance for days.

[ewalker125]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 12:21pm

I was also in the fifth grade, my middle school put on a production of "Grease" and as soon as I saw how much fun and excitement the kids on stage were having during that hour and half of sitting on the gym's hard, cold floor, I realized that I had to be a part of something like that. So the next year, I auditioned for Romeo and Juliet/West Side Story and didn't get in the show, but I got placed on curtain duty, I got to use the pulls to control the curtain, and loved every minute of it. That was also my first year in stage management, I loved being around the actors and getting stuff for them and taking cues, it was just incredible. It gives you such a good high to hear the crowds applaud after the final curtain call, and I just felt like wow, I am a part of making something so incredible.

When seeing shows, it makes me love it even more that all over the world we have a common family of artists in the theatre. No matter where we are in our own countries, we all share one love, and that's to do theatre or see it, or even write about it. I love seeing actors in shows that I'm not working on because it's so fun to relate to them and understand what they're going through.

[dreaming]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 12:25pm

I was five years old and my dad brought home a VHS (remember those, kids?) of "The King and I". I was not a happy camper because the video rental place didn't have some Disney movie I wanted, but he assured me I'd LOVE this.
...And I watched it a few times in the two days that I had it.

The rest...is history.

[showchoirguy]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 12:38pm

I fell in love with theatre when during my first high school show, Annie Get Your Gun. I had done Annie Jr before, but that doesn't count. When I got casted as a featured dancer, I was shocked! Never danced in my life! Several months later, I could do all the choreography with ease. The song that made me fall in love with theatre though had to be "I Got The Sun in The Morning". The song made the whole experience for me. The way it starts off slow and then turns into a thrilling ballroom dance was spectacular. A year later when I saw my first Broadway show, the revival of West Side Story, I knew that this was truly love.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 1:08pm

I saw my mother play Ruth in Blithe Spirit.

I was five years old, and while I enjoyed much of it without really understanding what the hell was going on, toward the end when I saw my mom come out on stage as a ghost, to a huge reaction from the audience, it was thrilling.

Then to watch the entire set be ransacked during the final moments of the play while thinking my mom's character was having an "invisible hissy fit" as a ghost ...

... I was hooked. It was pure magic.

[PastorErnst]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 1:31pm

I was 6 yrs.old. Donny Osmond. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 6:07pm

Saw Faith Prince and Nathan Lane in Guys and Dolls for my eighth birthday. She played that character hysterically and flawlessly. I was mesmerized and in awe of the fact that it was happening live in front of my eyes. Years later met her at the stage door after another show she was doing. Told her that I'm now a drama teacher and performer because of how much I loved that show. She was the sweetest.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 7:52pm

The film of THE KING AND I. It was one of the few films I saw at the movie theater (in revival) as a kid and then we did scenes in 7th grade. So although I knew it was a movie, I always pictured it as a stage show.

We didn't have a professional theater in my home town until the following year.

[WalkingInSpace3]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 8:01pm

I was in 7th grade and my friend told me all about a brand new show called Wicked. I developed a rather embarrassing obsession with the show for a few years following that, which opened the door for me to discover the world of musical theatre. I now realize that Wicked is pretty mediocre, but I certainly owe my passion for theatre to that show.

Updated On: 4/5/13 at 08:01 PM

[michellek45]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 9:26pm

I was 14 and a huge band nerd (still am). I'd never been interested in theater, but since I wanted to be in any possible band-related thing, I auditioned for our pit orchestra for Bye, Bye Birdie. I have never experienced anything so thrilling as playing that kind of music, in that context. I haven't gotten away from it since.

[Abbie4]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 10:39pm

It's fun to read all of the comments and recollections from everyone here.
My parents took me at age 7 to see the local high school's production of Oklahoma as our neighbor had a part in it. I remember it well, feeling scared of Jud, but thinking I'd like to get up on that stage when I go to the high school (wanted to be a Can-Can Girl in the dream sequence).
I'd say that my love for theatre just grew after that -- going to all the local community productions, dinner theatre, Shakespeare Festival at the nearby college, using my babysitting earnings to buy albums of cast recordings and eventually getting my first big role as the Snowflake Princess in a school Christmas Show in 5th grade.
During my senior year I even landed the lead in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical of Cinderella. I did kind of come close to that Can-Can Girl role as a flapper friend of Polly in The Boyfriend and a saloon gal in Paint Your Wagon.

A love for the theatre is timeless and ageless. Seeing certain shows and hearing the songs can bring back so many great memories and create new and lasting ones.
My daughter has the love as well. She is currently rehearsing for the role of Liesl and we recently had a great trip to NYC for several shows...the tears were flowing sitting with her in the Winter Garden hearing the song Slipping Through My Fingers.

[SweetLips]

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:50pm

darquegk---please write more-I love all your posts.