“I regard theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another what it means to be a human being.”
- Oscar Wilde, Playwright
"To act is to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances."
- Sanford Meisner, Actor and Teacher
"We've got to find a way to protect the process of making musical theatre."
- Hal Prince, Director
I don't remember the first musical I ever had the pleasure of experiencing on a live stage.
Oh sure, I remember wearing out two separate VHS copies--one at my house in a place of honor amongst my collection of tapes and DVDs, the other residing with my great-grandparents whom I would visit each Sunday afternoon--of the 1960 NBC telecast of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin in the title role and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook, but a truly live musical? I can't recall it from the depths of my memory. Coincidentally, anecdotal evidence suggests that it very well may have been a touring production of Peter Pan (you may be noticing a theme here) at the Fox starring Cathy Rigby. I simply awakened to a consciousness that was already exposed to--and in love with--the concept of musical theatre.
Yes, my friends, I am freely admitting to the fact that, despite my best attempts to claim otherwise, I am--and have always been--a musical theatre kid.
Cue the dramatic cymbal crash at your leisure.
I can, however, distinctly remember my first exposure to Shakespeare on stage.
Like most students, my initial exposure to the Bard of Stratford came at the hands of my freshman literature teacher. We completed the unofficially standard reading of Romeo & Juliet...
...and I did not care for it. It insisted upon itself, I said. The words were dry and overly complex, and, despite the valiant attempt by my incredible teacher, I couldn't grasp the text. It felt beyond me, beyond our current time--an outdated relic of yesteryear's yesteryear twice over and then some. The jokes didn't land, and the so-called "tragedy" did not resonate in my 14-year-old brain. In short, I considered my relationship with Shakespeare to be dead on arrival.
