While compiling my lists of what people thought about theater, I was incredibly moved by many of the emails, comments, and personal stories I received from parents, fellow performers, teachers and students. One theme that stood out the most among the responses I collected is love: Love for others, love for the craft, but more importantly -- love for themselves.
There is a sense of belonging and feeling supported by peers within the arts that is unique. Theater is a refuge for many and a safe place. It is not just life-changing. Theater can and has been life-saving to so many.
What Students Love:
- Amazing friendships they make
- Ability to leave the real world behind and just be someone else for a while
- Expressing themselves through all types of dance in addition to using music and singing to transport the audience and themselves into a story
- Feeling like they belong
What Educators Love:
- Confidence they see grow in their students over the course of a production
- Inclusivity that theater offers--even for those who do not want to be in the spotlight
- The fact that theater offers a way for kids (and adults) to find expression and understanding of their own emotions and feelings
- Reading and math skills, which improve tremendously
What Audience Members Love:
- Witnessing magic while being transported into another world
- Watching the children get excited and having fun on stage
- Element of surprise from a powerful drumline to an encore or clever curtain call
- How personal, how beautiful, and how connective theater is for the audience to be immersed into a story
What Parents Love:
- Confidence their child gains through the entire process of the production
- Skills that the children acquire
- Memories that their children will cherish for a lifetime
- The life-changing and incredibly transformative experience
What Directors and Performers Love:
- Dedication of each performer, crew member, staff member, musician
- Ability to problem-solve within seconds due to the nature of “live” theater
- Where else can you burst into song and sing exactly how you feel and have the perfect accompaniment?
- Feeling of being a part of something greater than themselves.
Theater is powerful. It has the power to help a struggling child find his or her voice. It has the ability to transform society in a way that nothing else can. It is accepting when so many other places are not; and it has the capacity to be a refuge for a lost soul. Every child should have an opportunity to participate and grow in such a setting, and this city has a fair amount to offer. Themes run through every aspect of the arts, but the one theme that seems to ring the truest is love.