Personal Narrative: How Theatre Changed My Life

The past four years, I have breathed, slept, eaten, thought and immersed myself in all thing pertaining to theatre. This is where I discovered to truly work in a team, where I could be without fear of being something I am not, and where I have found peace in the maddening swirl of day to day life, ironic in the fact that theatre is a hectic world. This world is where I have made my best friends and found people I know I can count on and that I insist can depend on me. If I have learned one thing from my experiences in theatre, it is to strive and achieve

As a shy, reserved student, I found myself blossoming through the stage. I fell in love with the stage and auditioned for the middle school's play, A Christmas Carol. Fortunately, I was casted in the performance. I loved the experience so much that I auditioned for the next year's play and musical and got a part in those as well. The more time I spent on stage, the more confident I became. I felt like the stage was where I belonged. I had a passion for theater that began to distinguish like a flame when I entered high school.

I saw my first Broadway show at only seven years old and have seen over ten more since then, due to the fact I live only two hours away from New York City by train. I always enjoyed theatre, but I didn’t grow the deep love I have for it now until acting became a career option. I spent a week of the summer completely in the business world of theatre and came out knowing I had to be an actress. I dived into all things Broadway, bought as many albums as I could, watched as many interviews as possible, saved up to see more shows, but even with all of this love for

Theater is the activity or profession of acting in, producing, directing, or writing plays. It is that of escaping the real world and going into a new one. Not only does one go more in depth into their mind, but they also go into the mind of others.Theater helped me find out who I really am. Growing up, I always enjoyed the idea of stepping into someone else’s shoes, but I never got the chance until I was in the sixth grade.

During my high school experience, I have truly embraced the arts, specifically performing arts. Tri-School Theatre (an extra-curricular, educational theatre program) has been a great opportunity where I have been able to appreciate my talents while learning about theatre with other students. Being an active leader in this program, I constantly collaborate with students for rehearsals and events; after my junior year of high school, I was nominated to be an assistant director for a children’s production, Aladdin Jr. Having much enthusiasm for the arts and promoting theatre at school, I was thrilled with this opportunity. Theatre has strengthened my self-confidence,

The first professional show I ever saw was an Off-Broadway production of On the Twentieth Century, starring Kristin Chenoweth. I remember getting swept up and consumed by the music, the dancing, the romance, the comedy, the story, and walking out of the theater astonished by the idea that there are people that do that for a living, there are people that do theater for a career, not just for fun. That is part of the reason that I decided to pursue theater, for the thrill of adventure and I know that I am not going to be doing some boring-ass desk job, but in the future I will get to use the skills that I learn in college to get my degree, and apply these skills to a career that I am excited about. To me, theater means that I get to work with

When first starting; theatre only seemed like a hobby. Performing did not sound like an ideal career for my life. Being familiar with performing, joining theatre seemed to be a simple task. Prior to high school, my only experience was a play in middle school, but no performances that made my heart yearn for more. Freshman year, I took theatre as a class, but was not interested in getting involved with events outside of the course. After a year of convincing from my teacher and peers, we settled on an agreement that I would audition for the upcoming show my sophomore year: Tarzan. After auditioning, being cast, and beginning to work with my director and peers, I felt a renowned connection to those around me, and to the art itself. After our first full run of the show, the flame was ignited. There were fireworks; a feeling that had never experienced in all my years of performing. At last, the passion was coming from within. From that point I  was excited to watch my theatre career kick off: but that wasn’t the case. That wasn’t the case at

Since I was eleven years old, I have known that I wanted to act. It was something that my parents never particularly encouraged, nor supported, but the seed was planted. I was sixteen when I first stepped into my high school’s theatre for my first day of drama class, and it changed my life. I felt at home and I would even call it the point of my salvation. From discovering the theatre and joining the world of the performing arts, I have grown so much as a person and have found a sense of self and purpose that I didn’t have before. I could not have imagined that I would, or even could, have the immense passion for acting and theatre that I have today, and it is beyond me how I became so lucky as to find something that makes me so incredibly

I had to practice audition songs and study my monologues relentlessly. I remember the first time that he really pushed me out of my comfort zone when I was cast as Ellerd in The Foreigner my freshman year. My director sat me down and had a candid talk with me, “Hey, this is a big role for a little person like you. I’m going to be hard on you because if you want these kinds of roles, this is where it will begin.” This was an instant wake up call. Opening night reared its ugly head, and everyone was going through their pre-show routine. As I was getting miced up, my director found me and had another one of his famous talks, “This is a big night for you, your first big role. I want you to know that I’m going to be your biggest cheerleader out there tonight. But these past few weeks rehearsing and practicing are finally going to pay off. And I want you to know that your performance tonight will show me if you are ready for the big leagues next year. So don’t be nervous, you’ll do great.” As I was entranced by his words, it finally hit me: he wants me to be in the future productions. He must really see me as an asset to the theater department. Maybe the stage is where I belong. Maybe I’ll really blow his mind with this performance, and that's exactly what I did. I nailed every line, the dialogue flowing out of me, almost like there was no script. As we finished our curtain call, we all stumbled off the stage to meet our audience for autographs and the occasional picture, but as I was leaving to greet my fans, my director stopped me with the biggest grin on his face. He explained how proud he was. I showed him exactly what he wanted.. Because of that performance, Mr. Nesseth saw me in a whole new way that gave me confidence and the foundation for greater

Being a member of theatre has caused me to grow as an individual in ways I am still beginning to understand. I believe theatre has molded me into a much more personable and tolerant person, and it has most definitely given me a high confidence level. Theatre has helped me develop my sense of self, as I’ve become highly aware of how I am perceived by others.

I have never thought that I would be put into a situation where I would have to be the mediator for my family. I have never in my life liked conflict, yet here I am putting myself in the middle so that the people I hold dear to me will not end up getting hurt. Never have I thought that I would be the one to get hurt.

For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with the thought of Broadway, and being on stage. While I didn’t know much at such a young age, I knew that this is what I had to be doing with my life.

Standing on an empty stage brings a different feeling to an actor than it would have to the audience. The midnight curtains swaying from the soft breeze through the holes in the ceiling, and the vast open space that can immediately be turned into another world carrying you away from reality. For me, being an actor, brings a sense of home and peacefulness. It's where I belong. But it didn’t start off this way. I entered my junior year with my sights on engaging in theatre more but was sadly hindered from continuing. I had all my classes set, but theatre hadn't managed to fit into it. How could I grow as an actor when the only knowledge I was getting were constructing sets and being in shows? I wasn’t getting the experience to learn about the history of theatre or techniques that would allow me to grow as an actor. So I sat back, riding my way through junior year anxiously waiting till my second semester to change my classes and anticipating the annual musical auditions. I will never forget the day the cast list for the musical came in. I was lying on my bed around

Musical theater has always been something I looked at in a positive light because it was somewhere I could be who I wanted to be, and I could play different people. There are many reasons as to why I have chosen to go into theater as a career and they include the freedom to create characters, the chance to meet new and exciting people, and the opportunity to get up on stage every night and give a performance. The possibilities are endless as to what can happen in theater, and sometimes people get lucky enough to live their dream.

My Business Theater will be a non-profited organization. Giving something back to the community and empowering people from not only all over south LA but all over the California. Anyone who feels they have the talent, time and transportation are welcome. My business is going to allowed youth & teenagers an opportunity to start somewhere.Not only going be a place just for people who want to purist an acting career, however it’s going to be for those who have an passion for dancing and music producing in For those who don’t just want a regular life but want an unordinary life. I’m going to have different classes within my business which will all be taught by creditable professors who have had personal experience in a degree within the career path students have an interest in. I’m going to