Special Moments Caused Through Theatre

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 12:46pm

While typing my response on the "What Show Rekindled Your Love of Theatre" thread, I started thinking about special moments that didn't neccesarily happen onstage that reaffirmed what makes theatre so important to me. As a former high school theatre/chorus teacher I had a lot of opportunities to experience these types of moments through my students. They happen sometimes when you least expect them, but they always leave you with a smile on your face and a deeper love for the power of the artform of theatre. Some of my favorite examples:

-- When former students excitedly e-mail me to tell me about shows they have been cast in or have seen, and then I remember their first day in theatre class when they had no prior experience whatsoever.

-- When former students told me that they went to see Bat Boy at a local theatre, or The Producers national tour because they remembered me talking about them in class.

-- When you take someone who has never been to New York before to their first Broadway show and see their face when the lights dim and the music starts.

-- When you pull out a Broadway show medley to do in Chorus and although the students complain about it at first -- by the time the concert rolls around they all love every note of it -- and then sing songs from it at pageants, talent shows, etc.

-- I cast the school's star basketball player one year in a musical I was directing and he had a blast. A college came in to recruit him to play basketball for them, and began to ask him about what subjects he might be interested in majoring in. He mentioned music, and when they asked this 6'4" stereotypical basketball prospect what kind of music he liked best -- he gave a very non-stereotypical answer -- showtunes!

-- When I watch high school and amateur productions and see the joy on the faces of the actors, musicians, stagehands that shows how much they love what they are doing.

-- When kids are in tears on closing night of a show because the experience has meant so much to them.

-- After I left teaching, I worked for about nine months as a box office manager for the big local performing arts center. One day while I was supervising the box office for a performance of Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan, a teenage boy and his mother came up to buy two tickets. They asked for two seats on the back row of the top balcony because at $20 a piece that was all they could afford --and it was very evident that they were telling the truth. At that same time the company manager called up and let me know that I could release any of the seats they had on hold for cast members for general sale. Two seats on the front row center orchestra came available as a result. Instead of selling him 2 seats on the back row I was able to give him the seats on the front row for the same price (due to a student rush discount). A few weeks later I got a letter in the mail from him and he wrote that being able to sit there and have Cathy Rigby fly over his head and sprinkle pixie dust on him and his Mom was one of the greatest moments of his life and one he would never forget.

Does anyone else have any similar moments they would like to share? They don't have to be from students like mine are, but from anywhere or anyone.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 1:20pm

One theater company I was in throughout middle school and high school would circle up before each performance to go through warm ups, speeches, rituals, etc. I'll never forget the cirle before my last show there. It was just a really special experience. The performance was filled with those kind of moments. The show was Seussical and certain things really struck a chord with me like "Alone in the Universe" with Jojo, saying goodbye to Mayzie for the last time, Solla Sollew, the egg hatching.

[alliez92092]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 1:26pm

I helped out with a group of young kids who were putting on an original show. One girl had some problems walking, she limped and could never walk straight. But when she got onstage, you didn't notice that. She put all of her heart into the show and danced that choreography so well. I cried every time I saw her onstage. It goes to show that people with disabilities can still do things, and do them well. I'm so happy she found theatre.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 2:00pm

"Special Moments Caused Through Theatre"


You mean like the hand job I got while seeing Lion King?

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 6:43pm

theatrediva - that was a little uncalled for.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 6:46pm

Jealous?


You need to get a sense of humor.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 7:05pm

I know. But this isn't really the place to talk about stuff like that. Just sayin'. :)

[neomystyk29]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 7:47pm

Similar to defyinggravity, before the last show of each production we do at my highschool we hold Senior Circle. Each time I am the worst crier in the room. Each senior usually says something about how they are devastated to leave. One senior once, when the high school did into the woods, quoted a song "this was just a moment in the woods, our moment, shimmering and lovely and sad. leave the moment, just be glad for the moment that we had. every moment is of moment when you're in the woods." That must have been so absolutely bitter sweet. That was the year before I entered highschool.

Also I always seem to purchase just the right music to make me completely emotional after a show is over. Examples of songs I heard for the first timee during my post show depression phases are Our Time, With So Little To Be Sure Of, Stop This Train (phenomenal song by John Mayer), and A Way Back To Then (Title Of Show).

When we did Our Town, I played George. On closing night all I had to realize was the fact that the show was over, the seniors were graduating and in the third act that was my motivation to break down. It was an emotional day.

Enjolras, thanks for this thread. Some of the moments you listed have really struck a chord.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 7:48pm

Did you stand to give the cast a standing ovation at the end ?

[Fabrizio2]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 7:49pm

Diva,
I think I love you.

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:02pm

TheatreDiva- I literally "lol'd" after reading your comment. Thank you.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:05pm

That bond you have with your cast members when you do a show.

The pain of leaving a show when the run is over.

The thrill of seeing the houselights dim and watching that beautiful barrier called the curtain go up. Unless you're seeing Rent or Phantom. Or in the case of Piazza, watching those pillars separate.

The heat of the lobby at the Company Theatre when you're meeting the audience.

Just the satisfaction that through all the trials and tribulations, you finally have a show.

Taking a bow on opening night.

The pain of leaving a rehearsal.

The excitement as you sit in your seat waiting for the show to begin.

That fear when you go to a Broadway theatre and check the understudy board or whatever the hell it's called to see who's out that day.

Putting a new CD in your disc drive for the first time and hearing a new score you've never heard before (or in the case of Spring Awakening, the rest of a new score you've heard several parts of).

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:06pm

Wow.
A little... crude.

[Trekkie2]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:10pm

I <3 Diva

[Little_Mary_Sunshine]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:16pm

Last year I did a production of Grease at a local youth theatre and to be honest I wasn't liking it too much. I hated the show and even I wanted to punch myself in the face when I said a line*I was Patty Simcox.* Nevertheless, I did have quite a few close friends in that show that were to graduate not long after the production was finished. Our director was a huge Sideshow fan and he had done it with most of the seniors two years earlier so he decided to play "Say Goodbye to the Freakshow" right before our last performance. For those of us who knew the song, the moment the first few notes came out we lost it. It was the end of a great year and none of us wanted it to be over. Sadly, I haven't kept in touch with most of them, but that day made me realize the friends I had and how important relationships can be. Also, it made me realize that I needed to grow and start doing shows at other community theatres because I would never grow if I didn't move on.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:21pm

The goosebumps one gets when the lights dim and the overture begins.

Of course that happens less and less these days.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:45pm

^Is this Man in Chair?

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:49pm

"You mean like the hand job I got while seeing Lion King?"

That was one of the funniest thing I have heard all day. Everyone was talking about all of these touching moments and then you said that. Hilarious.
Updated On: 11/28/06 at 08:49 PM

[Trekkie2]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:51pm

The naked number in Hair, that was a special moment... Don't call me a pervert until you look at my screen name.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 8:58pm

And my husband's upset at me because I didn't mention what he did to me in the lighting booth at a theatre I used to work at.


But I'm glad you guys got a smile over it.


It's the little things.

[Fabrizio2]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 9:33pm

What did your hubby do to you Diiiiva?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 9:35pm

He made me appreciate working in the booth....

[Fabrizio2]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 9:37pm

Diva you're a machine! You do lighting AND costumes? Successfully?!

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 9:42pm

Getting cards from actors.

That and tips. (just kidding... although I still haven't spent the ten dollars one of the girls gave me during Beehive).

Ohh...and what else... getting a hug from Jon.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 9:46pm

There were SO many moments I've had the pleasure of experiencing throughout my High School theatre career. In the spring of 2005, the lsat performance of Les Miserables, I can recall BREAKING DOWN during "Drink With Me" and that (of course) was the lead-in to "Bring Him Home" -- Neeldess to say, "BHH" was full of emotion (too much, I'd say!) but the audience understood why and it only added to the moment...The ovation I got holding that final high A was incomparable. My body was shaking my voice steady, and I just...felt so proud and accomplished after that moment.

Fastforward to the Epilogue, if you will. I'm standing next to Cosette: "It's too soon, too soon to say 'Goodbye'." She pulls me into her and just SQUEEZES, and she doesn't let go...She's bawling, and I'm trying to maintain my composure, but it's so, so, so difficult. Thankfully, I kept it together until Fantine's "Come to me where chains will never bind you. All your grief, at last, at last, behind you. Lord, in Heaven, look down on him in mercy..." We were hand-in-hand, and we were kind of using one another's inner strengths to keep going. I can't remember seeing much of the audience during curtain call, my eyes were watering too much...but, I was just...torn apart. For that show to end the way it did. Valjean, Javert, Fantine, Eponine, Enjolras, Thenardier, Mme. Thenardier, Cosette, and Marius, all of whom were graduating seniors...Along with several revolutionary women, students on the barricades, townspeople, stagehands, techies, the whole bunch -- totaling 28 seniors who took part in the theatre program. It was a monumental moment for all of us -- Something I will never forget.