Musical Theater

I am sure I mentioned I was a theater kid.. right?

Yeah, I was. But not until the 5th grade. Prior to that fateful year, I was strictly a little dancer. And a damn good one, might I add.

By the 5th grade my mom FORCED me to audition for the Red Shoes, luckily it required acting and dancing - so you had to do both in the audition. And yes, I got cast as one of the dancers. BUT - the good news is, I actually read lines.

I was terrified.

That summer I went to theater camp.

Everything changed. I want to say, that theater camp, that I spent almost my entire summer in, is what made me the loud mouth I am today, I have several people I could thank - Sylvia Haynie, John Jones, and Melissa Turnage. Sylvia taught me how to incorporate dancing and singing and acting all into one. John taught me how to do improvisation and really pulled me out of my shell. Melissa made me into an incredible dancer that summer. All through a little group that Danial Skylar created called, "The Community Children's Theater of Macon." You would be amazed at the those of us who came out of that group. Ever heard of Carrie Preston? Ever watch True Blood? (And a handful of other movies..) Yep, that's her. Several of the other kids are off in LA doing theater, acting in bit parts in movies and tv shows. Another set ended up in NYC, performing on stage.. while others went on to become Theater teacher.. and then some, like myself, went on into TV.. only to come out the other end (corporate side.)

But don't worry.. we all got a lot out of those summers. Every year, through high school, I auditioned for every thing I possibly could. I got a wide range of parts, eventually landing in the female comedic roles.

Here I am now, very much comfortable on a stage, publicly speaking.. and very much comfortable dancing.

As I was listening to some old songs, I remember the days of listening to my mom's Broadway musical records, and always, always, ALWAYS choreography songs/dances.. etc. My sister and I had this huge walk in closet, and I would make my mom and dad come in and watch yet ANOTHER performance.

You can only imagine how much fun I had as a radio DJ in college. Or how excited I was in my TV production classes as we created a "news" show. Then only to go off and actually work in that field. I guess it was the nerd in me, and the practical side. News/culture/politics always made my heart skip a beat - why not combine the two - performance/story telling with worldly facts?

But there will always be soft spot in my heart for musical theater. Here are just a few songs that I used to "perform" to at home with my little sister. I think she, more than anyone, will understand this post. ;-)





















Oh.. I could go on all night.. ;-)