There’s No People Like Show People

The warmth of the lights, the soft hush of the audience as the orchestra begins to play the overture, the 11:00 number. This is my crack—I need it like oxygen to live. I am what you would call a theater addict.

It all started when I was in dance classes like any normal little girl, but then I decided I also wanted to sing. So, my mom put me into an after-school performing arts school when I was 12. I was then given the solo in “Seasons of Love,” from “Rent.” Anyone who knows the show can laugh at how ridiculous a little white girl must’ve sounded doing that, but after it, I was hooked. I became obsessed with not only the show “Rent” (which was probably inappropriate considering my age), but theater in general.

I began to pursue every show and audition possible. Being an only child, these shows gave me a family full of eccentrics like me. For anyone who has truly loved theater, they know it’s like the love of your life. It’s frustrating at times, but it means so much to you that you could not imagine your life without it.

Being onstage for many people brings on anxiety, but for me, the only thing that scares me is the prospect of not being on stage again. Becoming a different person for even an hour out of your day is the world’s cheapest, most fulfilling form of therapy. Diving into another person’s soul is like spinning and weaving the world’s most complicated, never-ending web.

Theater is so much different than any hobby I’ve ever experienced. It’s a way of life. It’s a personality. It teaches you so many different skills that you can use in any profession. It teaches you empathy, teamwork, being gentle, being strong, being a part of something bigger than yourself.

Since being that little girl annoying the living heavens out of her mother singing Javert’s part in “Les Miserables” too many times, I’ve been in more than 30 shows and have played a man, a prostitute, a mermaid, a groupie, and countless other characters. I pinpoint the important moments in my life based on what show I was in that year. I’ve made the best friends I’ve ever had. I’ve attended the TONYs.

Though I’m not pursuing theater professionally, it will always be a part of my life in some respect. Every actor, every singer, every techie who has ever had the amazing experience of dipping their toes into the theater community will most likely tell you the same thing.

The theater does not just let you go, it becomes a part of you and something that is as innate in you as any other personality trait. I can tell a theater person a mile away. They are some of the wackiest, most loving, most difficult people I know and I plan on being near them for the rest of my life.

Thoughts? Tell us in the comments or tweet us @litdarling.