OPINION: A wonderful time to be alive

Starting on Friday, I’ll be performing in Crest Area Theatre’s production of “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.” It’s a bit different from a normal stage show, three mics will be placed which the actors will have to crowd around. We’ll be reading from our play scripts, and sound effects will be done live on stage.

It’s every facet of performance which I haven’t done since before the pandemic. I was in the top varsity show choir at my high school in Ankeny Centennial (we had five, a really ridiculous amount) and was in a variety of drama, speech and musical productions in high school ranging from small roles with no name to being a comedic villain in “Get Smart” my senior year.

It took a while to get back on the stage, something which I honestly thought I would never do again. I made the choice to quit most music and performance hobbies when entering high school to focus on my majors. It’s not that I hated them, but it didn’t make sense to continue playing when I knew I didn’t want to turn it into a career like my friends and family who did. To be honest, I didn’t have the talent.

Three things really sparked my interest in wanting to perform again. The first was needing something to do in the community after I moved to Creston this year. I tried a few options, I quite enjoyed the poetry workshops at Creston Arts, but it mentally didn’t feel like the right fit at the time. However, theatre seemed like the perfect blend of bombastic energy and practice I needed.

The second were stories I did with both Creston Arts and local school districts with their theatre programs. I love talking with people about how they view artistry, which makes those times at Creston Art galleries a great time for me to really connect with folks on something that might have become more than a hobby to them. Watching East Union prepare for their productions this year made me realize how much I did miss being on stage. I wondered what the best outlet for me would be.

The third reason, and perhaps the silliest, was a movie released this year called “Sing Sing.” I wrote a column when I was able to catch it in its surprisingly limited run (only 191 screens nationwide hosted the film at its peak). In “Sing Sing,” a group of prisoners at Sing Sing Correctional Facility come together as a part of a theatre program.

The movie is in-depth about the process of preparing for performance, and I recognized my own experiences in a theater program on the screen. It’s my favorite movie of the year (and I’ve seen way too many) as it embraces the euphoria and power performance can be in someone’s life. I wanted to experience that again.

I auditioned, feeling the same nerves as I did as an awkward teenager, and was able to land a part. Not only that, I was singing, voicing several characters, and introducing and closing the show. As the role of fictional host Freddie Filmore, I became a new person during the show. I was bewildered how much they trusted me.

Through my performance as Freddie, I play nine different characters, plus one for Freddie himself. My voice changes for each character, I have to think about body language, facial expressions, how to hold a script. When to look at a stage partner, when to look at the audience, when to look at nothing at all. For some reason, what should be stressful became my moment to shed the stress of whatever came before.

I’ve explained how I’m often an awkward, worried human throughout most of the day. I’m a loner at times, I’m bad at expressing emotion around others and most of the time I don’t want the spotlight on me. But, on stage, I’m alive. I feel natural and, because I’m entertaining an audience, I get a rush of energy like no other.

Maybe it’s the stress itself which forces me to really try and succeed, but I feel natural on stage. Zero clue how others think of it, for all I know I might look like an overeager party clown, but I love it.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” will have performances at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7 (which is my birthday, what a present!) and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8. It really is a fantastic show which will help kick in the Christmas season. In the back of my head, I have a natural worry, but I really am so excited to finally perform this show, and even to continue if Crest Area Theatre let me back.