6/1/16

I spent junior prom night suspended from a cable 25 feet in the air, trying desperately not to lose my grip on a metal pipe, all while singing a high F at full voice in a cockney accent. Over the course of my seventeen years, I have been an Arabian prince, a crackpot inventor, an English butler, a dance show host, a lion, a trucker, an iron-worker, a retiree, an assistant shopkeeper, and most recently, a chimney-sweep.

My journey into the world of theater began in 2006, mainly because my mother was always looking for something to keep my brother and me busy. Somehow, hockey, baseball, and tennis hadn’t done enough to curb our intense energy. My first acting class is one that I will always remember. My brother and I entered a room full of children wearing leotards and ballet shoes, and we arrived dressed in full hockey gear. The director couldn’t help but laugh, and we couldn’t help but wonder what our mom had gotten us into.

Acting was like nothing I had ever experienced. It requires performers to quite literally become someone else – pretending isn’t good enough. This is a lot to ask, especially of a seven-year-old kid, and at first I was scared of how strange and different true acting was. However, as the class progressed, I found performing to be fun. Our director was demanding, but I came to understand that she just wanted us to get it right, and it was a fantastic feeling to be able to deliver the result she’d imagined.

After a few classes, I began performing in larger, mainstage productions, which added elements such as costumes, sets, and lighting. These were unbelievable to me: I discovered that they served not only as visual aids for the audience, but also helped performers feel more immersed within the story and closer to the characters they play. With these larger productions came larger audiences, and with those, a greater responsibility to captivate each and every member. I learned that it takes a lot of practice to charm an audience while simultaneously performing choreography and blocking, but I also found that these additional demands add to the thrill of the experience. Multitasking in this way requires laser focus that actors can’t afford to break until the curtain closes. There are no do-overs, so actors can’t let mistakes or unexpected circumstances rattle their focus. The old phrase “the show must go on” remains as true as ever.

After ten years of performing, I have come to appreciate how much my theatrical experience has helped me - both on and off the stage. During my sophomore and junior years, I took AP Seminar and AP Research (the AP Capstone program). These courses required me to present research in formal, academic presentations. I earned high marks for content, yes, but just as importantly, my teachers were impressed by how effectively I could communicate this content to an audience. The ability to communicate information clearly, effectively and in a relatable way is something that I have taken directly from my experience on the stage.

Much more than a hobby, performing has changed the way that I work and communicate, which has opened my world. Each character I play becomes and remains a part of me, from the wide-eyed wonderment of Barnaby Tucker in Hello Dolly, to the thoughtful playfulness of Bert in Mary Poppins, to the firm, stoic man that is Mike from Working. Sometimes my colleagues tell me they can’t figure out where these characters end and I begin, and to be quite honest, I don’t think I know either. Performing has changed me fundamentally as a person, and, while I no longer play hockey, baseball, or tennis, I think that I discovered something much more valuable to me. And I’ll take flying over prom any day.