My Favorite Things … About Theater

I love doing theater; this is not brand new information. There are things about theater I like more than others.

I like being someone else for a little while. I do not have a bad life, in fact I live a really nice life with great family and friends, but it is fun to be someone different for a few hours a day when doing a play. I am having fun right now being the bad guy of the show. It is not me, and it is fun! I have been able to stand at the back of the stage and make out with a guy during a show just because it fits our character. Where else would a girl like me get to do that? You know be a little bad without being too bad!

I like the unpredictability of a show… well unless I am running sound and then unpredictable is my worst enemy. I have been in a show where the leading man was shot in the face by a prop gun and we had to vamp because the show must go on. I have been in a show where people have just missed scenes completely and the actors onstage have to fill in. I have been in a show where one particularly funny sound issue happened and the CD player broke during a song and the leading man broke character and said to the audience something like “Here is what you missed but is germane to the rest of the story...”

I like hanging out with people who are like me and like what I like. It is nice to quote a movie or showtune and have everyone around you get it. With my family that happens often, but it is nice nonetheless!

I like people stepping up when something bad happens in the show, like someone dropping out or not enough men show up for auditions.

I like getting a workout each night because of dancing. It makes me feel alive. I see some dances, though, and I am like “What the crap is that and you want me to what?!” It is a good workout, though!

I like watching creative minds come up to solutions like small budget or difficult space constraints.

I like being in charge when I direct, I like being bossy! I can sit down to read a script and see the show play out in my mind. I like seeing it come to life.

I like being pushed to my creative limits as a performer. It means I need to work harder to be good.

I like having a network of super talented people I can call when I have an issue I cannot solve whether it is as an actor or a director. It is wonderful to know I have this network to back me up. I have had more than one free voice lesson in my time thanks to wonderful friends!

I like, just being honest here, to sit through a really bad show and know I could have done it better.

I like the standing ovation after a really rewarding performance. Although I do think Utah audiences give standing ovations too often in theater, I like to earn one!

This is not the complete list, just some of my favorite things I like about theater.