All That Jazz

As I sat in a darkened theater this afternoon, watching 72 yr old Chita Rivera strut her stuff on stage in a reprise of her career, I knew exactly what I wanted to write when I got home. But somewhere during dinner with my boisterous family, the magic of the theater slipped away and now the words are lost. I'm listening to the Chicago soundtrack trying to re-find them. The tickets were a Christmas present for my gram and I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy the show as much as I did. But there's something about a 72 yr old Broadway legend with pins in her knees performing the hits of her career that's inspiring. That woman is probably in better shape than I am at 23. Just being in the presence of someone who's worked with creative forces like Sondheim, Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse is amazing. Sitting in that theater today, I remembered watching movies like "Bye Bye Birdie" and "West Side Story" with my mom when I was younger, and to be able to see the woman who originated those roles on the stage gave me the chills.

I love the theater, and I'm lucky enough to have seen a lot of it. My shortlist of favorites: Night Mother, Proof, Long Days Journey Into Night, 3 Tall Women, Rent, Chicago...ok I don't know if I can actually do just a short list so I'll just stop now. My mom introduced me to the magic of musicals and theater at a young age and it stuck. There is still no feeling in the world like the moment when the house lights go down, just before the footlights come up and you can feel the tingling anticipation in the air.

I ended up in film because of the theater. When I was younger, I took acting classes, went to performance camp, and did a little community theater, but I wasn't really cut out to be on the stage or in front of the camera. I loved the process behind it all though. I loved the process of building a character mentally and physically, of the great crazy rush that happens behind the scenes, the excitement of the last dress rehearsal before opening night....And while I still worked backstage during my high schools plays, (eventually working my way up to the title of "Goddess of the Props" which mostly involved raiding my friends attic, making sure everything was where it needed to be and giving my freshman apprentice a ride home after rehearsal) I had already decided that I was headed to film school, not more acting classes.

But the theater will always be my secret passion. When I was 14 I even spent the summer ushering for free (with the occasional tip) at the theater where I took my acting classes just to be around it as much as possible. When everyone was seated, I stood in the back, waiting for the lights to go down to get my fix of that incredible feeling. The summers, nights and weekends I spent at that playhouse where invaluable. It's where I really began to know, understand, and accept myself better as myself and not just as what other people perceived of me. In school I was the introspective, quiet (unless you were in my circle of friends) smart kid. At that playhouse, I could be whoever I wanted to be. And in trying on all those different personalities, I began to discover more of my own.