#1
Posted: 12/8/04 at 9:25pm
As many of us, especially teens, know, we are often faced with serious accusations of addiction. After being tormented by a majority of friends for the 2 years I have been obsessed with Broadway and uselessly trying to defend my addiction, I came to the conclusion that although an addiction, it can be believed healthy in most cases. Although I receive accusations of being a "freak" and a "loser" (often in a joking manner) for seeing shows like "Rent", "Hairspray, "Wicked", and "Little Shop of Horrors" five times, I ask my friends, "Isn't it better to do something you like rather than to blow my money on things I do not want?" To them the answer is no. Now I have a LOT of friends that I have introduced to theater. Lets start with Evan...Evan and I have been friends since the 3rd grade and I am now in 10th grade. As kids, we would both see shows 2-5 times a year with our families and we would talk about how enjoyable they were, and when he saw Hairspray and told me to see it, my addiction began. Evan often taunts me; however, should he? I mean he introduced me to my obsession when he told me to see Hairspray. Next, we have Alicia and Elena. Alicia and Elena often come into the city with me on little outings; however, when I go to see a show more than once, I get the "Oh, you're wasting your money, you can buy so much with the money you blow every year." speech. My reasoning that I do not desire anything else serves no purpose to girls who are obsessed with designer clothing, shoes, and bags. I belive they have no right to torment me when I spend $25 on a ticket to a show and they spend $310 on a pink Burberry scarf? Finally, we have two friends whoa re seriously out there...Joe and Nick. Nick is a lonesome child who only has three friends, including me...now Nick has a serious problem with buying movies and he tells me that I waste my money and that shows are the dumbest thing ever; however, when he saw "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Wicked" he talks about how mazing they are. Give me a break! You're saying you can torment me for liking the same show that you do...quite frankly, he needs to get a life. Finally, Joe is not exactly an avid theatergoer; however, he saw The Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and Les Miserables when he was a kid. Now, when I talk about all the amazing shows I ahve seen, he says "No, Phantom is the best show EVER!" This is coming from somebody who has seen 3 shows and saw Phantom when he was about 7 or 8 years old. When Evan and I decided to go to teh city and Joe found out, he automatically invited himself because he is jealous of my friendship with Evan (currently falling apart-lol). We saw Little SDhop of Horrors and got tickets via TDF. When we got rear mezzanine seats, he did not wnat to give me the money I laid out for himn for a "bad seat". He finally gave me the money and we have since seen Chicago, Rent, and Wicked together. He is one of thsoe people to never really bvring again...Rent we wont he lottery and he was talking to me in the 1st row no less, Chicago, we did student rush and had a bad view and wouldnt shut up, and I heard him complain with our partial view seats for Wicked. Hence, Joe will not be making future trips with me to the city. Also, as I explained in an earlier post, Tom Cruise was at Wicked the night I attended. All of my friends harass me because I did not get his autograph b/c I didnt want my playbill signed by Tom Cruise. When I tell my friends the reasoning, they say "so...no one cares who Idina, JLT, MJWMatt Morrison, etc...are, they are just wannabe actors." This pissed me off so badly and I responded with "Tey are the real actors...if you put 95% of movie stars on a Broadway stage and asked them to do 8 shows a week, they would literally die." I got dirty looks and no response; however, knowing that I was right truly made me feel great. But, getting back to the thread title, is our addiction curable? Can we seek help? What were to happen if a NY teenager left the state to go to college? Is it possible? Please share other personal experinces, sorry that mine was so long.
