“Break all your bones! I love you guys!” That was what was said to me by my director, as the lights went dim in the theatre for the first time in my life, and it felt like my life had begun. My hands shaking, I join the cast in a group hug as I almost feel our heartbeats syncing. I take a deep breath, and head backstage. I black out, going through the show almost in an out of body experience, until it’s intermission. I’m getting notes from my family, things like; “You’re our star!” “We love you so much!”. I’m smiling from ear to ear, barely understanding that this is real life. The show continues, and it ends. I got to have my bow, and I still feel like it’s not real. I run over to my family and get showered with love and cheers. This is what I’m meant for. This is my purpose.
At that moment, I thought back to when my mom started the conversation about theatre. It was a way for me to get back into the world of dance and acting, as I had expressed interest in it before. She had asked me; “Do you want to take a class here?” It was a “Broadway Dance” class, at a place called Connecticut Family Theater. I had originally said no. My mom, persuasive as ever, convinced me to actually do it. I am so glad she did. I walked into that class on the first day, and from then on to the end of the 10 classes, I met some of the people that have changed my life. Afterwards, I didn’t want to leave. My mom asked me once again; “They have a summer program where they do a show, do you want to do it?” I said yes, how could I not?
It is now October 19th, 2024–, three years and four months since– and I have performed on stage countless times since then. The feeling of putting on a beautiful piece of art with all these people that I love, and doing it for an audience that loves it just as much as I do. The applause fueling me through the show, the bright stage lights painting my skin with warmth, and the absolutely ridiculous range of emotions felt on stage, backstage, basically anywhere in the theatre. In the years I’ve done theater, I’ve gone through so much. I had lost friends and family like no other, but I also gained so many new experiences that I thought I never would’ve been a part of. And the one constant that kept through it all was theatre. It kept me grounded, something to look forward to at the end of the day, and the feeling of the week before a show opened was so exhilarating, I can’t even explain.
I sit here, now thinking about the 13 year old girl who was sitting in that theater, freaking out because she was about to go on stage for the first time. She has no clue what’s going to happen next for her. I truly have no idea what my life would’ve been like if it weren’t for that random class I took in the 7th grade. I don’t go to the theater that I had so many experiences at anymore, I grew out of it and the people there had turned into people that I didn’t enjoy their energy anymore. But now, I get to be the one teaching, giving that experience to little kids who were just like me. I cannot wait for the day where I can look at their cute little faces and say; “Break all your bones! I love you guys!”
