Plays and such
July 26th, 2002 12:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shiredancerWe went to a really great production of West Side Story tonight. It was a Santa Barbara Youth Theater show (this town is rife with theater, youth or otherwise) and I do believe it was the most heartfelt production I've ever seen. Those kids were fantastic: truly talentd, and they gave everything they had. Probably the best Maria I've ever seen, with the voice, the acting, all the nuances just right, and maybe the best Anita too.
I have a real soft spot for West Side Story... it was the first show I ever did. Another great event in my 16th year. I'd never seen it, knew almost nothing about it, but knew I *had* to audition. I had no dance training but learned their little routine and remembered to smile, mostly to distract them from the mistakes. Guess it worked -- I got in as a dancer, along with all the ballerinas and jazz dancers. It was like I knew that therein lay my destiny, and it was true: the world opened up to me with that show. It was my first time on stage, my first time dancing, and would lead to quite a few other firsts too. My dance partner played Arab in the show, he of the ear-pierced-by-the-Sharks. He was almost 27, but that ceased to matter very quickly. Before and after rehearsals he played his guitar and sang to me: folk songs and ballads, raucous sea chanteys, naughtily suggestive barroom songs that made me blush until I got used to them.
He quite turned my head, and that was another destiny of sorts. However... my memories of that first play are very tender. I can still recall every punctuated stop in Cool, the blending of the voices in Quintet, and even some of my steps in The Dance at the Gym. Tonight's production with such young people pouring out their hearts brought it all back. I was there, once.
(And thank you,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chrystimd, for teaching my how to do the LJ Cutaway!)
I have a real soft spot for West Side Story... it was the first show I ever did. Another great event in my 16th year. I'd never seen it, knew almost nothing about it, but knew I *had* to audition. I had no dance training but learned their little routine and remembered to smile, mostly to distract them from the mistakes. Guess it worked -- I got in as a dancer, along with all the ballerinas and jazz dancers. It was like I knew that therein lay my destiny, and it was true: the world opened up to me with that show. It was my first time on stage, my first time dancing, and would lead to quite a few other firsts too. My dance partner played Arab in the show, he of the ear-pierced-by-the-Sharks. He was almost 27, but that ceased to matter very quickly. Before and after rehearsals he played his guitar and sang to me: folk songs and ballads, raucous sea chanteys, naughtily suggestive barroom songs that made me blush until I got used to them.
He quite turned my head, and that was another destiny of sorts. However... my memories of that first play are very tender. I can still recall every punctuated stop in Cool, the blending of the voices in Quintet, and even some of my steps in The Dance at the Gym. Tonight's production with such young people pouring out their hearts brought it all back. I was there, once.
(And thank you,
chrystimd, for teaching my how to do the LJ Cutaway!)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
((((shiredancer))))
Date: July 26th, 2002 08:11 am (UTC)C