The Magic of Theater

The past two weekends, I’ve had the privilege of working backstage at several performances of “Beauty and the Beast” by ShowKids Invitational Theater, a children’s community theater organization which my oldest son Avery has been involved in since he was in fourth grade.  S.K.I.T., as the organization is affectionately called, has been quite a blessing for my family, as it has been the perfect creative outlet for my all-over-the-place child, who seems like he was born to be on the stage.

Avery as Cogsworth the Clock.  Photo by Dave Dabour Photography.

People often refer to the “magic” of live theater – the ability of theater, through a combination of sets and stage, and actors and actresses, and a captivating story, to transport an audience through time and space and evoke their full range of emotions, all in a matter of hours.  Directors rely on a similar kind of “magic” to pull together the various component parts of the performance – the lights, the sounds, the sets, the scenery, the actors, the actresses, the script, etc. – into one coherent show.

For two years, I have worked as a backstage “runner” during performances.  My job is to follow the script and help gather the actors and actresses from the dressing rooms to the wings so that they are on stage before the curtain opens for each scene.  For the duration of the show, I mostly stand on the ramp that leads up to the right wing (ironically).  This job has given me a behind-the-scenes look at all of the hard work that goes into creating this “magical” experience for the audience.  

After several months of rehearsals on Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday afternoons, actors and parent volunteers spend 20+ hours during the week before the show opens at “tech week” rehearsals, where the stage, sound, lighting, hair and makeup crews have their first opportunity to practice setting and striking the scenery, raising and lowering the backdrops, testing the microphones, planning the lighting, and transforming the actors and actresses into their respective characters.  On performance days, these same groups arrive two and a half hours before each show to get ready.  

During performances, there is a frenzy of activity happening backstage – costume changes, scene changes, hair fixes, last minute rehearsing – which the audience never sees.  The stage manager and stage and lighting crews are all connected backstage with little microphones that allow them to communicate moment-to-moment and resolve technical glitches in real time.  In the dressing rooms, TV monitors allow the actors and actresses and their volunteer assistants to see exactly what is happening on the stage at any given moment.  

This backstage experience reminds me a lot of what I’ve been learning this year in my experiment with the Law of Mind Action.  Although there is some level of “magic” that happens when we endeavor to create something beautiful in our lives, an essential key to success is action.  Without hard work, S.K.I.T. shows would not be as successful as they are, and this little community theater organization would not have the same capacity for transforming children’s lives.  For many years, I’ve used the notion of having faith and a prosperity consciousness to abdicate responsibility for taking action and putting in the time and effort required to achieve my goals.  I'm beginning to realize that I need to have faith in God AND also do my part.  Watching these children see all their hard work pay off has been quite an inspiration to me.  I'm looking forward to being a part of the "magic" at their spring show.

~REBECCA