Musicals


What is it about a musical? I must confess that I do enjoy a good musical. Last night I went to see my cousin, Debra, in "Into the Woods" at the HCT. She was great and was the perfect Cinderella.

As I watched I noticed an interesting thing about myself. I am not content to just watch and enjoy. I feel like I need to immerse myself in the play. In my mind I was singing the songs and doing the dialogue with the actors. Secretly wishing one of them would become violently ill or twist their ankle. The director would come into the audience and say, "Friends we have an emergency. Is there an actor in the audience? I say, is there an actor who can jump on stage and fill in for (fill in the blank of the character)?" I would nonchalantly rise and jump in and save the production. I would be discovered by the producer of Feature Films for Families and be in the next "Liken" video. Ah, if only . ..

I was on a date last night so I couldn't do this next part, but after a musical I have been known to spontaneously burst into song. . .and dance, but only after certain musicals(Singing in the Rain, and West Side Story). I usually sing all the way home in full voice, sometimes throwing in some hand actions or jazz hands as it were. It is not at all safe to drive that way but doggone it, I can
hardly contain myself.

I think most people see me as very controlled and very even tempered. I try to act that way most of the time so I don't draw attention to myself. But when I see a musical, that "in control" person melts away and all my inhibitions come down and I feel so liberated that I could just sing and dance the rest of the night. Then I wake up the next day a realize that maybe I went a little overboard when I hitched kicked off that man's bumper and landed in the splits. Then I vow to be in control and not let that side of me show. . .well at least not until the next musical.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Jazz hands while driving aren't that hard if you steer with your knees. Just make sure you aren't also doing a jazz square, because that leaves you nothing to steer with and can cause problems...
November 6, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Erin said…
What I love about this post Robbie is that I feel the same way! I also love that I've been one of the privileged few to see you bust out in song and dance.

"It's Gabriel, Gabriel singin'.."

Bless you a thousand times for sharing what you've got inside with the rest of us. It certainly brings a smile to this face of mine.
November 10, 2008 at 5:01 PM
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