The summer is about recharging and getting ready for the year ahead. This year my summer recharge included getting a cultural fix. A couple weeks ago I finally got to see Hamilton on Broadway. (Yay, hubby on a spot onChristmas gift!). It was awesome and as one of my students told me "it is as good as everyone says it is." However, I still had to wonder if that was true. You know how it is. So many things get hyped up that by the time you get around to seeing or experiencing it you feel let down when you find it to be "just alright". I am glad to say that did not happen this time around and even my husband who is not really into the theater thought the show was phenomenal.
Now, I've had the privilege is seeing a few musicals over the course of my life, including Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Lion King, Rent, and Aida. I must say I feel like I've chosen wisely. However, walking away from Hamilton left me thinking about just how much work must have been put into a show of that magnitude. Sometimes deeper reflection and appreciation comes with age. The research, story creation, song writing, choreography, set design, costume design, and on top of all of that you have the amazing people on stage and behind the scenes that pull it off.
I also got to thinking about the journeys of the cast and crew. Being a part of a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical must be a dream come true and the pay off of years of hard work (and rejection). We often hear sports quotes when it comes to success coming from failing or not even trying. I'm sure you know these two quotes:
"You'll miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan
The sentiments can definitely be applied to those in the arts as well. The paths those actors before me took was not easy. There were auditions they didn't pursue and roles they didn't get. We often hear about the small percentage of athletes who make it into the pros. The same can be said for the stage. Just how many elementary, high school or college thespians get to do what they love professionally on the big stage? What does is take to not get discouraged along the way? How do you know if you have what it takes? Could any Broadway actor even have imagined they could go from playing Toto in The Wizard of Oz to one day performing on Broadway? It takes commitment, perseverance, risk taking and resilience to stay the course and not give up. And let me tell you, I am so glad Hamilton's cast and crew invested in their dreams the way they did because this former Mrs. Rabbit from the Shepherd Park Elementary School kindergarten production of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" thoroughly enjoyed her Sunday matinee.
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