What I Learned in the Theatre

Photo by Kyle Head on Unsplash

I have always been a storyteller. As a young child, I regularly drew my favorite characters and envisioned new stories for them — one might say “spinoffs.” I emulated the funnies that I read in every Sunday newspaper and laid out my drawings in comic strip panels. I also started my first book at age five. It was a flip book.

I had an overactive imagination, launching myself over the couch to escape an invisible villain and leaping among the furniture to avoid the lava-soaked floor. (Much to my parents’ delight, I’m sure.) On Halloween, I gleefully dressed up as a number of characters that were … unusual for a young girl, such as King Arthur.

So, I guess it was obvious to most observers that I would become a theatre kid. Yet despite my performance proclivities, I balked at any opportunities for training and suffered stage fright. Because I didn’t start ballet at the age of three, I was way behind my peers and was put in the beginner class, where I was a giant among toddlers. Although my teacher said I’d catch up soon, I was tired of being mocked by the girls my age. And so I resigned myself to being a mouse every season of The Nutcracker. Eventually, I quit ballet.

I was taking voice lessons and impressed everyone at our recitals, but when I auditioned for a production of “Annie,” my nerves got the better of me and I barely squeaked out my…