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May 26, 2010

My First Tour Mural!


Something I’ve noticed that I really like about touring, is seeing murals of other shows on the backstage walls. I’ve actually always wanted to create one...so I did tonight!


What’s always fascinated me about show murals is what’s behind them. No, not the cinder block wall...what they mean, the fact that another cast, no matter the show, once toured through the same space, calling it home for a night, or a weekend, or even and entire rehearsal process before setting out across the country.


Each show has its own story, each cast and crew member who signs their name has an entire life and career be it for that one show, or for a lifetime after this first time out. It makes me think of something I’ve always imagined growing up...The idea that every song, every line, every dance move hangs in the air after it’s produced. That the energy of it never goes away, almost like a ghost...the theater collects these notes, words, and moves and hangs on to them forever.


You start a show with an empty stage, and leave the same way, but my theory is that that space is never really empty, nor is it ever the same again. It’s filled, so full in fact that’s you can actually feel the energy move through your body as you take the stage for the first time or take that last look after load out...it’s the energy of what has been, what is now, and what will be thereafter.

May 18, 2010

Two Roads...




Earlier this week, I experienced what I like to call a “two roads” moment...a moment in time where you find yourself standing on your proverbial path, looking through the leaves and the trees to where the parallel path has led. The path, you could have taken had you not chosen the road less traveled.


...Graduation day...


A few months ago I was given the opportunity to choose between taking a national tour, or finishing up the last semester of my degree. At first, I looked at the decision as a no brainer...stay and complete the degree. I even had a thank-you-but-no-thank-you letter written, ready to be sent, when my dad called me. It was my assumption that because he had been working so hard, along with my mom, for so long to help me pay for school, that they would want me to finish. But after a very deep conversation, I realized I should reconsider.


Long story short, I decided to take the tour.


I was finally able to do what I’d always wanted to do, a touring musical. I had the opportunity to get on stage and perform the way I love to, in hopes of inspiring curiosity and discovery in the lives of the children and families who come to see us. I had the opportunity to travel the country, and take in the small towns, the big cities, and every other destination along the way. I had the chance to work with my best friend (who happens to be on the tour too) on a professional level, a dream we’d both shared for quite some time. So I took it, all the while, secretly wondering how I’d feel the day my friends all graduated.


To be honest, I did much better with it than I had thought I would. There’s actually a point in our show where we sing about how it feels to be in Rome. This is actually one of my favorite moments of the show, favorite song for sure, with lyrics that have meant a lot to me at different times along the way. This time, as I sang ”you’re in a strange new place and yet it feels like home”, I thought of myself, but also about how proud I was of my class. Flashes of future auditions and open calls flooded my thoughts, seeing my friends excited to be starting out their new lives. I saw what I’d been doing for months, and what I could have been doing instead, but I felt great knowing what path I chose. “...when hearts are a glow and life is magnifico, that’s how you know, you’re in Rome.” With the reassurance the song gave me, I had a great show, and really enjoyed living in the moment of it all.


So now I turn back to my path with a smile on my face, proud of my friends, and proud of myself...and I walk on...