Theatre Chronicles: The Beginning

Well, I guess this is the beginning of a new era for me... I'm starting this blog, not necessarily for other people to read, but to keep a record of things that have happened/will happen in my life since/after I found the theatre... For good or for bad, I need to keep a record of it...

Those few of you who might read this blog can call me Alexander, or Alex. So, introductions complete, I guess it's time for some background.

I began my journey into theatre in the seventh grade, so only five short years ago (I will be a senior in high school this upcoming school year) with my best friend and brother in a little class in a small town in Colorado. We spent an entire semester learning absolutely nothing about the art, and simply diving in to the play that we performed... There was no auditioning, there was no process, it was simply "who wants this part," or "who would like to have that part." Rubbish, if you ask me...

Needless to say, I didn't pursue theatre, or, as they so pointedly called it "drama" (which is a genre, not an art) again in that middle school... It wasn't until sophomore year that I was actually thrust into the art for what it was.

My friend/brother's neighbor had seen the two of us together during one of his piano lessons, and it just so happened that she would be directing the school's next production. She said that she had the "perfect pair of parts" for us two, and that she would be "delighted" if we would audition... So we did, and we got those parts... My friend was cast as Prince Daft, and I was cast as Conroy in the musical production of The Royal Bachelor. Now, don't get me wrong, it was fun, but the director was a bit of a loon... Her idea of scheduling was less than a "standard" idea, and scheduling extra practices the day before didn't help with the attitudes of the cast... Add in the fact that she cut someone two weeks from showtime without an understudy lined up, and you have yourself a rather uncleanable mess... Oh, and as it just so happens, the person she cut was one of the main people in one of the best songs in the show, and I don't just say that because my friend and I were also in that song, it really was... She had to cut the song two days before the show... Not ideal...

I vowed never to partake in another show with that woman as the director... Apparently I lied, because about a month later, I found myself auditioning for the community musical production of Westward Whoa! No matter how much i dispised the director, she still couldn't keep me away from the art. From that moment on, I knew what I wanted to do with my life, I knew the direction I wanted to go in.

I suppose this post is long enough, though, so the events during/after Westward Whoa! will come a little later.

For those of you who are reading this, thanks, it's much appreciated.