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| The Wormwoods |
It was the night of October 4, 2019, when I experienced my first opening night at Hickory Community Theatre in my hometown of Hickory, NC. I got accepted to play the goofy brother of Matilda, Michael Wormwood, in our presentation of Matilda the Musical. A part I wanted; the reason why is for another time. How I got casted surprises me to this day. I sang Happy Birthday for my audition even though I should have had a song prepared, I had a cast on my leg (literally took “break a leg” seriously) and couldn’t sing for anything. Yet here I was a part of this amazing cast with the best leadership from our Director, Music Director, Choreographer, Stage Managers, Costume Designer, and Production Designer. Opening night was a success and as I went home, I knew two things that were certain; all the hard work we put in paid off and there is no better satisfaction than knowing I had given back to my community.
There was a point for telling you about my opening night. My story is only a small fraction of the full experience of community theatre. You may know about the general process of getting to opening night, audition, rehearsal, tech week, and BOOM opening night. You may not know how straining and time-consuming the process can be to get to opening night, which as an audience member, it’s okay. You’re here to enjoy a show. I ask the next time you see a show, and when you get out, really think about all the work that went into it, from casting, costumes, set design, and so forth. I am by no means implying that we hate it as performers; it just kills us a little inside when someone shrugs our performance as only another performance. Why we need to support our local performers and our community theatre; because we take a lot of time (a lot) to ensure you have the best hour and a half or however long the performance is. Lastly, I’m not asking you to go out and donate, or even see a show for that matter (even though we’d love for you to come). There are other ways to support your community theatre without having to give a single penny. Volunteer; whether it’s handing out programs, sewing costumes, set building, acting, ticket sales, concessions, and I could go on, we appreciate your time, help, and your support. Maybe you’ll even audition for a role and steal the show (you never know if you don’t audition); your audition can’t go as bad as mine. Trust me. I genuinely believe that the people that volunteer is just as big of a supporter as the corporate sponsors.
Now that you understand why it’s essential to support your local community theatre, you may ask why? It gives people who are passionate about theatre an outlet to share their talents with the community, and for some, it gets them away from everyday struggles they may be facing at home for a little while. It’s there only safe space where they can be who they want to be without people judging who they are. However, I believe why most people enjoy getting involved in community theatre is the family that comes along with it. There is no tighter bond than a cast who has spent weeks rehearsing long hours to put on a less than two-hour show, and you can take that to the bank. During that time, we learn everything there is to know about each other. There is no family like the theatre family.
Yes, we have cliques, disagree at times with each other, but in the end, we come together and put on one hell of a show. Why the last performance is the hardest; because it’s like the family is being broke up. We may or may not stay in touch with those we shared the stage. Why we always come back. In hopes of being getting casted with some of the people, we called our family from past shows. Even if we don’t ever see the people, we came to know during our time at the community theatre, we still have the memories that we made with each other, which drives us again to do more shows. Why community theatre is so important to our communities, it’s by creating a family community from within that we can bring the outside community together for a show. If the community theatre can’t bring itself together from within, they’ll never be able to bring an outside community together. Grand scheme of things; when you add everything together, that’s the sole purpose of community theatre to bring everyone together. Why we not only need to support but be involved in our local community theatre. There has been no other time when communities need an outlet to come together and enjoy themselves for a brief moment in time. That outlet is our community theatre. Don’t be shy; go out and support your community theatre. Whether it’s as an audience member or acting, we’ll find you something to do. If you’re already doing all you can for the community theatre. I think I can speak on behalf of everyone who’s involved with community theatre. THANK YOU. With that, I’ll see you at the show. Break a leg.
