Humans have been chasing after entertainment since the dawn of time.
Take the Greeks who built amphitheaters and wrote countless classics that still form the foundational roots of modern drama. Take Elizabethan England and some guy named Shakespeare who churned out play after timeless play, all of which appealed to the common masses. Even in the digitized 21st century, the thought of going to a concert and witnessing the creation of art right in front of our eyes makes anyone's heart beat a little bit faster.
Live performance, a captivating storyline, and music—the history books remind us that all these things seem to be an essential part of the human spirit. Musical theater makes a melting pot of these three ingredients, and that is why it makes my heart beat a little faster.
In your typical high school, the “theater kids" stick out like a sore thumb. They always seem to be humming some show tune under their breaths or practicing some dance combination distractedly. Normal civilians know it's the dreaded “tech week" when theater kids show up to school with bags under their eyes and incomplete homework in their book bags. Ask anyone who's in a show, and they'll swear up and down that it's the best production they've ever been in. Ask them again after a bad rehearsal, and they'll shoot you down with dagger eyes before you even have a chance to ask what's wrong.
I'm one of those theater kids. Or was. Last Friday when I walked out of my last high school class, the ache in my chest wasn't from the thought that I'd miss the crowded cafeteria with its questionable mystery meat lunches, or that I'd miss finding the line of best fit in my AP Statistics class—no, my heart felt heavy because I knew that I wasn't just walking away from high school. I was walking away from high school theater.
Every former high school thespian will tell you this: the memories you make when putting on a show are like no other. The friends you make backstage and during rehearsals will change your life forever. The thrill, the pride, and the joy that being in a production will give you is something that can't be replicated offstage.
When the audience leaps to its feet, and all you can do is bow graciously and drink in the thunder of applause, it feels just like you're coming home.
Time and time again, I've tried to articulate why musical theater is so extraordinary. The words still sit at the tip of my tongue because I'm unable to find the right arrangement of sentences that'll do it justice. To the ex-theater kids, realize that it is the end of an era, but also something that is an irreversible part of who you are and who you will be.
To the theater kids of now—there's no place like the present. Cherish every moment and tuck each second away in some safe place in your memory. When you finally leave that stage, look back only once and know this: your heart will always be a part of it.
