Theatre. I grew up in a little town in New Jersey called Morristown. It was
your typical small town where everything was within walking distance. I loved
it. Right in the heart of downtown was Worth-Tyrell Studios for the performing
arts. That was the school that I attended.
This is where I learned to sing, dance, and act. I loved every minute of
it. I come from a family of nine children, so of course money was always tight.
My dad was a very accomplished pianist so in exchange for him playing for all
of the shows at Worth-Tyrell, my brothers, sisters and I would get to take as
many classes as we wanted. What an awesome trade-off. I would take as many
classes as I possibly could. We also got to work backstage as the stage
managers or run spotlight for shows that we were not in. This was some
fantastic training in being a leader.
When I was a sophomore in High School we moved
to Texas. Ugh. I was not a happy camper. Everyone called me a Yankee and the
arts were no longer important. It was
all about the FOOTBALL. No offense to you football lovers out there. I love watching
football as much as the next guy, but the performing arts were so important in
Jersey, not football. So I joined the dance team and danced at all the football
games. I loved that too, but I sure missed my performing arts school. You see
there was just something so magical about that place. Even when I think about
it now, it makes me tear up because I miss it so.
The performing arts taught me so many life
skills. It taught me discipline, hard work, teamwork, humility, strength,
confidence, leadership, time management. I could go on and on.
As I grew up, I always wanted to have a place of my own that was like
Worth-Tyrell. Theatre is a place where people can express themselves and grow
into whoever they are going to be. I know God has given me the gift of the
arts. Whether I am working at Church on scripts for Sunday morning or at
rehearsals for my own theatre company productions, I am constantly reminded
that God has truly blessed my life with the gifts he has given me. I hope to
inspire as many students to love singing, dancing and acting, just as my
teachers did in New Jersey.