“Theatre is vital because it creates a shared human experience, fosters deep empathy, and challenges us to imagine a better world.” ~unknown
Theatre, especially musical theatre, has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Even television and movies could bring me fully in. I noticed everything: movements, expressions, the ability of actors to become their character, being able to step outside themselves and BE someone else.
While I was never the “star,” I lived to be a part of any show that would take me. From the Christmas play at church, to the choir in junior high, to a supporting role in high school shows…being a part of a production gave me true joy and a sense of belonging.
In high school, I clambered for any roles at all. While some supporting roles came my way, I was most often in the chorus. I was just happy to be included, and that feeling was my motivation when I fell into a new role…director and producer for the Discovery Charter School Drama Club.
What started as a small group of 25 kids, performing for 100 audience members, became the cast and crew of over 100 performing for sold-out audiences of 1000 guests per night. Even writing this brings a few proud tears. Not for me, but for the 850+ children I have worked with and witnessed firsthand experience the importance of theatre for children.
During the 12 years that I was leading the Drama Club, I learned more than I ever thought possible, starting with community. There are a LOT of moving pieces when producing a show. Whether they liked it or not, my passion for the kids and the production spilled into our community. Countless businesses and families stepped up to fill vital roles: creating costumes, building sets, running choreography, loaning us trucks and trailers, donating equipment, allowing us to take over their barns and buildings as storage, or a space for the ever-important task of kid wrangling! The list is truly endless. It is incredibly humbling and inspiring to see a community come together to make a project happen.
Perseverance
It wasn’t all love and light…some days were HARD. We were working with energetic, creative, and very young people from 5 to 13 years old, and 70 to 100 of them at a time. Over the 6 months of rehearsals, they learned lines, songs, cues, prop placement, and costume changes. But they also learned to work through the hard stuff. Repeating those lines and songs hundreds of times to get them just right. And yes, we are going to run that song with the choreography 16 more times! They learned to keep going, even when a scene wasn’t going as planned. We all learned patience and perseverance together.
Bravery
Watching children perform together and solo, in front of not only 1,000 people, but their peers! How hard is that for an adult?! Most of us would rather quit our jobs than give a PowerPoint presentation. They conquered their fears, learned not to take themselves so seriously, and realized perfection is not the goal. And project your voice!
Every Role Matters
The cast list can be the best day for some and the worst for others. Everyone comes into a show believing the LEAD is the coveted role. They soon realize there is no show without everyone! If there were just leads, that would be a pretty boring show. Each character needs the other. Every role is integral, and a show wouldn’t be a show without them. This includes our stage crew; we would have nothing without the kids dressed in all black, running around in the dark, making sure everything runs seamlessly. Together, it’s magic!
Kindness, Empathy, Responsibility, and Encouragement
One of my favorite parts of the show process was watching the cast interact with each other. There are very few opportunities in a K-8 school where students across the grades interact with each other. The older kids took the younger ones under their wing. The bigs were heroes in the littles’ eyes. The older kids watched over, were examples, and the biggest fans of their younger cohorts.
The entire cast lifted each other up when needed, celebrated each other’s wins, laughed, and cried together. They taught each other, they challenged each other. They were what we all should be. Aren’t these all life lessons? Confidence when speaking, learning to roll with the punches, be kind and supportive to yourself and others, be brave when life is hard, do what makes you uncomfortable because it’s how you grow, nothing valuable comes without hard work, life is better when we come together, every job is needed and important, don’t take yourself so seriously, and learn to laugh!
So when people say the arts aren’t going to help you in the “real world,” it’s actually exactly what we need to make our way through the real world. I am working on a VERY exciting project and cannot wait to share it with you all soon. Hint, it has to do with theatre!
