I Was a Thespian, but Only In College

once again, the Universe has thrown me a curve ball and in true spastic gay guy fashion i've swung and missed. dispensing with the sports analogy i'll explain:
i got a letter in the mail, on friday, that my alma mater's (St. John's University) theater group (the SJU Stagers' Society) is having a reunion in April, after it's opening night production of Little Shop of Horrors. sadly, we have a Pampered Chef show every weekend in April. more specifically, we have 2 shows every weekend and 1 weekend with 3. yes it's a good thing, as the business has really taken off, but i'm beyond disappointed not to be able to go to the reunion.

see, i've always been a bit of a show queen. g'head, wipe the surprised look off your face, but it's true. i've mentioned before that my mom played music since i was a kid and that by the time i was 8 i knew the entire score to South Pacific and West Side Story. i've also told you that in HS i was on the Speech and Debate/Forensics team, so i had a bit of theatricality in my blood. by the time i got to college, i realized that their Forensics team's schedule wouldn't fit in with my part-time work schedule and that i'd always wanted to try out for a play. i wouldn't dream of doing it in HS, since the one time i stepped foot on a stage was for the freshman talent show, where i was promptly laughed at and booed off for being "the fat kid"; mortified doesn't even begin to describe how i felt.

anyway, i went to the audition and long-story-short, i got the lead in Ayn Rand's Night of January 16th. i had such a good time and got such a high from performing, that i stayed with the group and got the lead in the spring musical, Cole Porter's Anything Goes; i was hooked. by the time i had graduated, i'd been in about 14 shows, plays, musicals, and revues, had directed my own production of Auntie Mame, was VP of the Organization's Executive Board and had received annual grants from the school as well as an award for organizing our 1st ever Student Directed Evening of One Acts. additionally, i made one the best friend i'd ever know, Jenn. from the moment she hobbled into the audition for Anything Goes (on crutches), our freshman year, i knew i had met the most amazing girl in the world. She drove me home from auditions that day and we began a friendship that has spanned well over 10 years.

i made alot of friends over my four years of college, almost all from the Stagers' Society. it's truly amazing how you can bond with people when your theater group doesn't have a theater. we performed all our shows and plays in the gymnasium. the acoustics were atrocious, there was no portable stage, the only audience we ever had was our immediate families but somehow we made it work. i've never had so much fun in my life. i learned to sing (somewhat), dance (sort of), to appreciate drama and to be confidant in my ability and my co-stars. i'll be honest, i miss it terribly.

when i saw that they were having the reunion following the show, it made me so incredibly happy. i was happy that there might be a chance i'd see all the people with whom i spent so many hours. i was happy that someone finally thought to hold a reunion. most importantly, i was happy that the group was still around. i really hope that there's a kid who had a lousy time in HS and is finding it alot easier in college. i hope that he's found a way to break out of his shell by standing in front of the world's hottest and brightest spotlight in that smelly old gym; i hope he's playing Seymour.

i just wish i could be there to see it.

"To me, acting is the most logical way for people’s neuroses to manifest themselves, in this great need we all have to express ourselves"~ James Dean