BWW Blog: It's Quiet Uptown

Nothing will stop artists. Not really, no. Nothing will ever stop creativity and love. Maybe things like I dunno a global wide pandemic can slow it down, but nothing will ever stop us. Even on pause, there is beauty in the way we think and feel.

I work at a small local theatre and unfortunately our spring musical, Freaky Friday, was cancelled, and there isn't any verdict on our summer show, Les Miserables. That being said, we're all going a little crazy without access to our stage. My boss, Scott, and I have been working on figuring out how we can involve the community in shows we can broadcast live over Zoom. While I'm a little nervous about learning about all the bugs and glitches we have yet to face, I gotta say, I'm over the moon about this project.

It's a chance to get the community together and for me personally to start getting the juices flowing again. I feel like I've been in a creative dry spell recently.

But I have to keep telling myself, it's not dry, it's just quiet.

I've been feeling stuck lately. Overwhelmed with finals, class registration, worries about the world - all that stuff - but even now, I still seem to find myself writing little poems on my evening walks or humming new tunes while working on essays for my history class.

So whether you're feeling stuck or in a rut or you're just going crazy at home, remember that not everything has to be a big production number. Some of the best moments in theatre are the quiet ones - the ones where there is nothing except the processing of emotions and both the actors and the audience are just feeling.

That's what right now is. We're in the quiet moment of the play, the time for reflection.

The lights, they're still. Not flashing, no gobos necessary, just you and your thoughts processing the world.

These moments can often feel like the longest ones, but sometimes, they're what we need to get through the next act.

So this is my plea - please don't feel like you're no longer an artist because you're not on a stage. Because right now, it's just a quiet moment. That's all it is. Creation is not stopping - it's only forming stronger.

Art doesn't have to always be expressed through big, bold, and brassy tap numbers or finally nailing the riff at the end of "Defying Gravity." Sometimes, it's in the little things. Right now, don't feel pressured to do anything crazy. You can still create through the smaller movements of the day.

Reflect and create and live in this quiet moment. That's all we can do. We're artists. Even on the quietest of days, a song can still be found in the tapping of our toes or the gentle swaying with the wind. Nothing can or ever will kill art.

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