As a kid, theatre made me happier than anything else in the world. I loved making an audience laugh, cry, and feel every emotion in between. I loved the feeling I got every time I stepped on stage, as if I was in a place I could truly be myself -- even while acting as someone else. It is a curious feeling, and one that I will never stop loving. When I signed backstage as a senior in high school, I wrote, "Actors are just people who never got tired of make-believe."
Acting is make-believe, but it consists of some of the realest emotions you will ever feel -- the rawest tearing apart of the heart and the mind to become another. Not only do we grow close to our roles, we grow close to those around us, and we learn with every experience we have performing. I owe so much of who I am today to my childhood of auditions, rehearsals, and performances.
How to Work Hard
I danced when I was in preschool, but began acting in shows when I was in fourth grade. My first camp counselors pushed us really hard. In sweltering heat, we sang and danced on stage for close to eight hours a day. Fast-forward past the middle school shows to high school, when I'd get out of an eight-hour school day, go to rehearsal for three hours, work for another three hours, and then go to a community theatre rehearsal until 11 -- all while filling out college applications and studying for three AP classes. Learning to say "I can't, I have rehearsal," was key for me to be able to take my free time and put it towards something I had such a burning passion for, something I was willing to sacrifice much of my sanity senior year of high school to work for.
How to Bounce Back from Rejection
I would be lying if I said I've never cried from theatre. I've cried after hearing I wasn't good enough, cried when I felt as if I would never get a good role. I've cried when my hopes have been shattered by a look at a cast list, and I've cried when I felt I would never be good enough by someone else's standards.
How to Take Criticism
My parents have always been my biggest critics. They have also always been my biggest fans. They tell me when I suck, and they tell me when I have a great show. Hearing that you went flat on a note, spoke too softly, or rushed through a monologue is enough to make sure you do not do it again. Hearing their criticism after my shows when I was younger frustrated me so much -- I just wanted to feel good about my performance, why would I have to listen to negatives? But it's those "negatives" that have changed the way I act, and have improved the way I perform -- sometimes you need to listen to your audience.
With that said, sometimes you're going to hear an audience member make a comment that makes you want to curl into a ball and never return to the stage. You need to know when to listen and when to block out the hate or the negativity to move on past a particularly "eh" performance or a bad audience.
How to Talk to Adults
When I started acting in community theatre, I began to be treated as an adult performer. I remember my first show, I just simply "forgot" to mention my real age to any of the cast members or the director. I was 16 and serious about what I was doing, and I was so terrified that if they found out they would write me off as "just a kid." When I did tell them, I was met with so much more than that. I was met with respect, with mentors and kind words, and great insight into what it means to be a performer. I was told to keep pursuing my dreams, to never ever stop performing, and that I was young and had a life of performing ahead of me. The people I've worked with are the reason I keep doing this. I crave those interactions when I am not in a show, and it's what gets me out there right away when auditioning for the next role.
How to Hold Myself Accountable
Directors can be the best or worst people you will ever know. I have had the pleasure of working with amazing directors, ones who have made me a better performer. They have been tough on me. They have made me cry, but they have also made me laugh. Directors hold you accountable -- you are expected to know your part, and play it well. That is your job, and just like any job, there is always going to be someone there to make sure you're doing your best. If you do theatre, you know the talk that happens in almost every show -- that you need to try harder, memorize quicker, learn your cues, your dance, your song -- you are responsible for the show's outcome. It is resting on your shoulders, because let's face it -- one performer not being on point can make or break any show that is aiming for the closest to perfection it can reach.
How to Work a Crowd
Theatre teaches you to talk to people. It teaches you about feelings, forces you to empathize with your characters and those you must interact with. The more characters you play, the more dynamics you feel yourself able to take on. Performers are great observers. We use everyday feelings and actions to make our characters real. Because of this, we can understand how we act affects others' feelings towards us. We know how to stand out for the right reasons in front of a crowd, how to command an audience, and how to speak so that others listen.
Performing is my passion. It is not just something I do, it is something I am. I am every performance I have ever done, every interaction I have had onstage and off. Theatre has fueled how I live my life, and I am happy with the person that it has made me today. Every time I step on that stage, I get butterflies. It's a natural high that I could never let go of, it's emotions and experiences and connections with your role, your cast, and your crew. I am so glad to have spent much of my life saying, "I can't I have rehearsal," because the life of a theatre kid is the one I will never stop living.
