The True Beginning

I never did any of the shows in Middle School, I was WAY too shy to get cast in anything.  Plus the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) teacher directed the plays and 9 times out of 10 she would cast her students, which I was not. 

Determined to break out of my shell I decided to take drama in high school my freshman year.  Our drama teacher was awesome.  He was this funny little man with messed up hair and smelled like coffee ALL the time.  Made sense since he was always super hyper. 

He cast me in the lead of "I Remember Mama" my first semester!  I was nervous as heck but he helped me through it.  It was only a small portion of the show so that helped.  I did pretty good for a first timer.  For the spring show he asked me to be the Stage Manager for Steel Magnolias.  I was more than happy to do so.  I was not ready to act in a full length show.  However, the girl that played Clairee was also on the varsity track team and was at a track meet in Santa Maria, CA, the high school was in Ventura, CA and Santa Maria is a couple hours away.   She should have made it back in time but there was a horrible accident on the 101 that day that delayed her by HOURS.  By showtime she was still not at the theatre.  The show must go on so since I knew most of the lines and the blocking, they dressed me up, put some makeup on me and threw a script inside a magazine so I could use it while onstage.  AGH!!!!!!

But I did it.  Luckily I only had to do it for 1 act, thank goodness!   I was shaking soooooo much but the rest of the cast was so supportive and helped me the whole way.   By doing this I was free of my shell and the following year was able to perform on my own in Our Town as Mrs. Stimson, the music teacher.  (We had to do cross-gender casting often since boys at my school didn't think drama was cool).   My senior year was my favorite performance of my high school career though.  We did The Man Who Came to Dinner and I was the doctor.  I made my role the comedic relief and it worked.  Had such a great time doing that show.

My stage fright and shyness had pretty much disappeared at that point.  In looking back on my choice to following acting I am glad I did it because without it I don't know if I would be where I am today.  I currently work as a Contracts Negotiator and without the skills I learned in acting I don't think I would be as successful as I am today.  I wouldn't have the courage or confidence to speak in front of others and have conviction in what I believe in.  So I am forever thankful for the time spent in developing those skills so I can be successful today.

How I got into acting

I started to write this post with the intention of starting to talk about when I started acting in middle school but I realized that it actually started prior to that.  I think we are all actors as children, playing make believe and what not, so I'm not going to start there.  I believe it started in fifth grade for me.  I don't remember if I did it for an assignment or if it was just for fun but I wrote my first play in the 5th grade.  It was based on a dream I had had but also a bit on true life. 

The play was called "The Day the Unicorns Came" and it was about a little girl who lived in the country (even though I lived in a beach town, the country seemed to make sense for the story) and was sad and lonely most of the time.  Her family was always upset or sad about something and despite her efforts to bring happiness to her family, home life was a little depressing.  The farm was struggling and the family was broke.  One day this little girl spots a beautiful white horse in the field and upon approaching it she notices the horse has a horn, but she is the only one that can see it.  I don't remember all the details of the story but in the end the unicorn saved the family.   It helped the fields grow and it helped the family become more of a family and the girl wasn't lonely anymore.  Of course the unicorn couldn't stay because it was only there to bring happiness to the family so the little girl had to say goodbye but she was much happier now.

My childhood was tense most of the time.  There was always tension in the house, someone was always mad at someone else and you could cut through the tension with a knife if someone didn't bite your hand off first.   I didn't like drama.  I hated the fighting.  I dreamed of a loving and kind family all the time but that was a pipe dream.  And I had had a dream that a unicorn came and made my life happy and brought my family closer together so that's where I got the idea for the play.

So in fifth grade, for whatever reason, I wrote this play and casted it with fellow classmates and we rehearsed and then performed it in front of the class. 

I had almost forgotten about that until this morning.  I think that is where my acting career truly started.  :)

Acting Stories

I decided to add another section to my Blog for your reading enjoyment.  From Junior year of high school to about 5 years ago I wanted to be an actress.  It was all I thought about.   I focused on it for about 10 years and then decided I didn't want to do it anymore and quit cold turkey.  I just wasn't happy with it anymore.   It made me depressed more than it made me happy so I felt it wasn't the right life choice for me.  I'm happy with my decision so there are no regrets. 

But there were a lot of great stories and I feel like telling them and what better place to do so than on my blog.  I hope you enjoy!  :)  

I will be posting my first story shortly.