What I Love About Musical Theater

The only movie star I really knew growing up was Fred Astaire. I am only 27 (not 72), but he was my hero, I watched all his movies, read his biography, etc. Needless to say none of my peers shared my enthusiasm.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I love Broadway musicals. I don't care if they are predictable, unrealistic, or corny. I don't need any excuse to believe people would break out into song and dance at the drop of a hat. I wish real life was like that: happy, creative, outgoing, colorful and unabashed. I realize that the rest of the world is not going to suddenly fall into my fantasy and sing along. Nevertheless, I love teaching musical theater to kids; not because I am brainwashing them to be members of my utopian society, but because I love watching students change from bugs to butterflies.

Consider, for instance, a student I will call Kate. She came into a class at our school painfully shy--the kind where you are afraid you may make them cry at any moment just by being in the same room. But at home, she loved to perform and put on shows and her parents knew that she could grow to be more confident on and off stage. She loved her classmates, but on show day it was anybody's guess as to if she would actually make it out of the wings and onto the stage when there were real people in the audience. She made it to the third song before she realized how many people she was singing in front of and ran off-stage mid-sentence. Her parents, teachers, and the whole cast were so proud.

An older student, let's call her Maryann, is a little bit of a diva. She likes to be right, tell other people what to do, and have them be impressed by her skills and experience. Not exactly what they teach you in "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Being part of a drama cast enabled other students to get to know her behind her facade and gave her a true sense of belonging that she did not find in other places.

If a sports team can feel like a family, the cast of a musical can even more. Everyone can have their petty issues, but it takes a lot of vulnerability and courage to sing, act, dance, try new things and make mistakes literally on a stage for all to see. It helps students bond and gives them confidence--if I can be in a musical I can do anything!

It also helps students build creative problem solving skills and quick thinking. When in a play, you must be ready to react to both the expected and the unexpected. When my daughter was 4 she played a policeman in Pirates of Penzance and the only black "boots" she would wear was a pair of high-heeled leather boots that zipped halfway up her leg--the ones her Grammy bought her. Let's just say when she had to stand on a rock and look menacing for 5 minutes everyone had to quickly think of ways to keep her from falling completely off the stage!

Confidence, teamwork, creative thinking on the fly--that's before we ever teach kids a thing about how to memorize lines, act in character, sing on key or dance on time. If you have never been a part of a musical (even if you are all grown up now) you may think about trying it. Life my never be the same. And as they say "The show must go on..."