COLUMN: Starring role in play frantic change of pace for reporter
I lost my theater virginity last weekend.
If you went to CMU’s production of “My Antonia,” you saw me as the narrator, Jim Burden, who took the audience back through his memories of Antonia and their childhood in Nebraska.
But I am not actually an actor. I am primarily a journalist, and I had never been involved with a play in my life before “My Antonia.”
Acting was something I had always wanted to try, but never felt like the opportunity was there.
Although I have taken an entry-level acting class and have been involved with the After Hours Improv registered student organization, being onstage in a play in front of an audience is something completely different.
I have spent most of my time in college working for CM Life, Grand Central or other involvements relating to a future career in reporting. I became settled into an acceptance that my dream to act onstage just once would probably never come true.
Some friends convinced me to try out for “My Antonia” with them. Why not just go for it? I figured at best I might get a bit role.
My mouth fell open when the cast list came out after auditions and I had gotten the lead.
Both theater and journalism are time-consuming. They demand full devotion and really cannot be accomplished unless you do immerse yourself totally.
Each is difficult on its own, but doing both is overwhelming. It required a straining balance between being committed to not only reporting on people in spotlight but also being in it myself.
The experience gave me a new empathy for theater students. Trying to balance a play, working, and being a full-time student is daunting.
Life becomes a constant state of exhaustion. You are always moving and your brain never gets a chance to turn off, meals and sleep become a luxury and even some relationships are sacrificed in order to create the performance.
Acting was not as simple as I had assumed it could be. Actors face complex processes like character development, line memorization, voice distinction, facial expressions, body posture, breathing and timing. After all this, they must face the critics, both professional and public.
Having no experience quickly lost its underdog cuteness when I realized that if I ruined the play, I was not only making a fool of myself in front of the school, but the whole cast.
We sold out performances, and our audiences laughed and even cried their way through an ensemble performance that left our critics gushing praises.
It will be my only play, and I am glad to have left batting a thousand.
If you want something badly enough, go and do it, no matter how painful and intimidating the road you must travel will be. Dreams are worth it.
