6/13/2011

Why We Do the Things We Do

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I have a philosophical side that kicks in on a semi-regular basis and questions everything about the world around me. It's especially true when I'm doing the run of a show. I always seem to have a moment when I take a step back and I think about the set, the lights, the audience, the theatre and everything that went into creating this "thing" that would fill the space in between dinner and the train ride home. And I find myself asking, "Is this not the biggest waste of money and space ever?" And I begin to question why I would ever partake in an artform that is so wasteful and so temporary when I could be in some third world country helping to cure disease and feed the hungry or something. "What's the point?" I ask myself. It's all a giant ruse, after all, right? We manufacture this human idea of entertainment and we place value on it. I could hop in my car and drive away and the show would still go on (I'd never be hired there again, but that's beside the point). They would fill my spot somehow. So why bother? The second I hit the stage, though, all of these questions disappear.


I spot that one audience member in the front row beaming up at me as if this is the greatest gift they've ever been given. This is for them. This isn't for the critic trying to single-handedly bring down a show. This is for that one person in the audience who hasn't smiled in a long time and needs a good laugh. This is for the person in the back row who hasn't cried in forever and they need a release. This is for the person that I met in the grocery store yesterday who legit told me that being up on stage as a guest speller and seeing that show was, "The highlight of her life." Sure, she has probably left Matunuck, RI probably twice in her life, but I made her laugh. That's a gift that goes beyond sets, costumes and lights. It has no monetary value. And that answers ever doubt in my mind. We're changing lives. To quote Neil Patrick Harris' "rap" up last night at the Tony's...

"We’re changing some lives tonight And theater thrives because we live to give it, so to speak This isn’t reality TV, this is eight shows a week Every chorus member that you saw tonight tappin’ Had to make miracles happen For a chance to see you clappin’ And applauding in the audience What’s next? Who knows Anything goes Now go see a mother [fucking] Broadway show."

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