There are no small parts, only small children.
It’s Summer, that all too familiar time when all of us would get up to no good. So what would our parents do? They would send us away to camp to be someone else’s problem. Some people went to overnight camps where they met their long lost twin and switched lives, some people went to religious based camps, and some went to band camp where there was that one time… Then there’s theatre camp and those who were brave enough to attend. Now, someone has threatened to buy the place and shut it down.
Bursting onto the online world right now are some wonderful remotely recorded isolation collaborations to lift the spirits of humanity as we bunker down amidst this COVID-19 pandemic. Never is the arts more valued than in times like these.
One of the most beautiful and magical aspects of theatre is that it has the ability to help its audiences connect with the realities life and the emotions that come with them. Its stories and characters help us see the world through a new lens, multiple perspectives, and allows us to see the broader scope of an entire story, rather than our own, singular view we experience life with each day. When we see a Broadway show, if it accomplishes its goal, we feel emotions we have perhaps suppressed or have not otherwise had the opportunity or circumstances to experience.
It is difficult to recognize a once-in-a-lifetime moment when it’s happening. We strive to adhere to the principle of “living in the moment” but it is a hard concept to wrap your head around when there are so many things to think about every second of the day. It is one of many reasons people go to the theater: to escape reality and immerse themselves in a world either better or simply different than their own.
In many ways, working an understudy is a tougher job than playing the title and/or leading role in a show. Hear me out. An understudy can be asked to learn multiple major roles in a performance and have the expectation to perform any of those roles at any time, theoretically as well as the original cast member for whom they are taking over. Put simply: it’s difficult, laborious work, often without praise and glory.
