Why Acting?

Me-Many Moons Ago ( Thanks to Peter Lerohl and ARCC Theatre)

                                                           
Last Sunday I auditioned for my sixth show at my church. My hope is to get in and start preparing for "Brigadoon" which will go up at the end of April. It's one weekend. We will rehearse two and half months for one weekend. We will create structures, built strong enough to stand up to anything and then around 5pm that Sunday we will tear it down and put it all away and do it again next year. It's a lot of work and at times it can feel a bit overwhelming but the payoff always seems to be worth it and it's that payoff that keeps me coming back year in and year out. Still, I have a lot of people who ask me why? Why do I continue to put myself through shows? It's not like the pay is good. It's not like I don't have other things I could be doing. That's true. I don't get paid and yes I do have other things that I could be doing like working on my golf game, school work, speech work and giving some time to my long neglected friends who have been more than patient with me as they deal with this heavily programmed life I'm living.

I guess I do it for a few reasons. First would be the people. Every cast is different. Every show takes on a life of it's own. I've been blessed to play lead roles and I've also sat in the chorus and I can say this absolutely that a show cannot go without every ones full commitment and energy. In a play, the whole must always be greater than the sum of the parts. When everyone is sold out to the vision of the director it can be a beautiful thing and poetry in motion. People come from all walks of life at my church. Different ages, school schedules,experience levels and backgrounds and we all have to work together to make it happen. I've worked with so many talented people. Many of whom have gone on to do some great things. I have learned something from all of them and have taken with me the little tricks and techniques that made them fun to work with. I also have worked for some great directors in recent years. Each of them has their own style, their own vision and skill set but effective none the less. Each of them has provided me the ability to create. The freedom to do my own thing and the authority to offer a check and balance to my sometimes lofty goals and crazy ideas.

I think the other reason I keep coming back is the rush. This feeling that is hard to describe and even harder to duplicate. All I know is this, I wake up every morning feeling lousy and full of knee pain among other things. I spend my day thinking about all the stresses that surround my day. All of that goes away on stage. For two and half hours I feel nothing and there isn't a drug on the planet that can duplicate that...at least not one that won't get in the Busted Magazine. I always heard athletes growing up talking about how they fed off the crowd for support and motivation. I never felt that way playing little league or slow pitch softball where the smattering of golf claps hardly registered a decibel. In fact, I can't recall a time where I remember a crowd and a team I was on being connected together. However, I can recall a dozen times when I could feel on stage the audience hanging on every line being said and every note being sung. People like theatre because they get live through you for a couple hours just like you are living through whatever character is in the script and it's that marriage that keeps us all coming back.

So here we go again. Another show. Another character. Another opportunity to entertain someone.I believe everyone needs to try it at one point in their life. I think it's like Gene Hackman says in "Hoosiers" that "Most people would kill to be treated like a god....even for just a few moments." Well I may not be treated like a god but for one weekend a year I rule the world.

Til Act 2
Tim