Ever since I was a child, I’ve been humming along to Les Miserables and creating choreography for the play, Annie. Theatre has always been there. Once I started truly involving myself in acting and tech, I also started paying to see as many shows as possible. I aim to see a show a week, and some people think I am crazy. They wonder why I spend hundreds of dollars a year seeing shows once, or even twice. Why is this important? Why would I spend so many hours seeing a show again after I have already enjoyed it? This is why I see shows, and why you should too.
Plays and musicals are set to have a moral, and this moral can be as hidden or as present as the playwright wants, but there is always something there. I enjoy seeing them because I can better myself as a person by searching for these morals and using the examples in the show to make me better.
It’s humbling. Everyone gets a little cocky sometimes. Whether it is for a second or a year, we believe that we are the best, that we have reached our limit potential, that we are invincible, but shows help me see that I am not all that and a bag of chips. You can see people like Alexander Hamilton, who by the age of 20 was changing history forever. These may be fictional characters, but it can set a goal to strive for. It can also show you how talented the actors are. Even the Matildas are on Broadway and performing every night and they are in elementary school. There is always someone better than you, so you must strive to pass your potential and beat them.
It challenges different viewpoints. How can one get better unless they are challenged? If you are only around something that is similar to you, you can never know how your beliefs can be improved. I had a very different view of the world until I saw Twilight of the Golds. I saw through the eyes of a family who were severely against gay rights and very pro abortion, a viewpoint through which I have never witnessed before. Although the show was hard to watch, I was forced to see into the eyes of another person, which brings me to my next point.
You walk in someone else’s shoes. Not only are you witnessing someone’s life, but through soliloquies and some other techniques, you can hear their thoughts, and go through their life with them. Knowing how other people react in different situations can help me better my own reactions. I can gain the ability to empathize and know how to better react to others’ feelings.
It’s magnificent. All the work that goes into a show is tremendous. Each actor and technician has put in hours on end to put together a performance, and it shows. Every light has been positioned perfectly, every set piece angled just for the audience. No matter how good or bad the show is, it is always amazing to see how much people have put into a show, and learn from it.
There is a show for everyone. There is a show that incorporates almost every type of music. There are rock, opera, classical, and even rap musicals. If musicals aren’t your thing, then there are plays which are basically like seeing a TV show or movie, but live. This means that you don’t have an excuse to not see a show. A ticket to go see a dinner theatre show at Midtown Arts Center is less than a ticket to go to dinner and a movie.
Supporting the arts is important. Being able to pay people who are living out their dreams is important. The arts promote creativity, problem solving, and motivation. Theatre has motivated many people I know to do better in school. It also introduces good work ethic and problem solving. Promoting this in schools and in professional theaters continues the drive in actors and technicians.
Shows are so important to me, and I believe that seeing as many shows as possible in your lifetime is crucial. Not enough people just decide to go see a show as they would a movie, and that needs to change.
