Do you ever go to see a professional theatre production? To me it is like being transported somewhere else. The costumes, the backdrops and the actors! You see those people stand there and sing. Sing is not really the correct word for what they do, but I do not know what you could call what they do. It's like saying that Lance Armstrong rides a bike pretty good. To me this point was truly made when I took Grace to see her very first Mirvish show, Little House On The Prairie. The year before for Christmas we had purchased the first season of Little House On The Prairie on DVD for Grace's Christmas gift. I had found out that Little House On The Prairie had been made into a musical, and was starring the original "Half Pint", Melissa Gilbert. We were so excited. What made it all the more special was that it was just Grace and I. What became very obvious that day is that the stage actors and actress are very different than other actors. Melissa Gilbert had a lovely singing voice, but she could not sing from the tips of her toes like the other actors. I felt so badly for her. I wondered if she knew how out of her league she was. My first instinct is to say that stage actors have a gift, but the reality is that they have worked hard to hone their skills. God may have blessed them with a nice singing voice, but it took years of teaching and practice to achieve the power behind that voice.
When Grace auditioned for "Munch Tales" for the Young Stirling Festival Theatre I knew that I would be spending a lot of time in my car driving her back and forth to Stirling. My imagination did not prepare me for the tedium of it. On one of the many trips I was moaning in my head, when it suddenly occurred to me, those amazing stage actors began here! Many of those people with the amazing talent began their careers at theatres such as the Stirling Festival Theatre. It was here they learned to take direction from their director. It was here they learned to thicken their skins and pull up their socks in the audition process. It was here they learned about lighting and where to stand, how to make their voice carry to the back of theatre.
When you go and purchase a ticket to see youth theatre, you not only get entertainment, you get to see the stars of tomorrow. The cost for all of the seats at the Stirling Festival Theatre for "Munch Tales On Stage" is only $8.00. Imagine being able to boast to people that you had seen Meryl Streep before she was "Meryl Streep". One of the kids in this cast could very well grow up to be an actor that you will see on the big stage or in movies. August 7 at 11:00, August 8 at 11:00 and August 9 at 2:00 and then again at 7:00 you have an opportunity to witness The Stirling Festival Theatre's Young Company. There is original music and even a play that has been written by one of the cast members, oh yeah, and you can see my Grace make her stage debut.
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