Gosh this is actually really exciting for me. I fell in love with live theatre back in about 2005 or 2006, and like really in love with it in about 2007, I think. I was required to go see and review a play for my Drama class in high school and although I had seen plays before (mostly that our own high school had put on lol) it wasn’t until I went to a semi-professional theatre to see Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ put on by Arden Children’s Theatre that I was like WOW. That cast did an amazing job (all of them under 30 yrs old if I remember correctly) and the story that I had previously loved so much was given new life by being live on stage for me. I had wanted to join ‘Theatre Appreciation’ as a class in high school but because at that time I would be in bed and asleep by 9-9:30 PM it wasn’t a great option for me to go on a school night to something that would finish around 10 PM and I’d get home much later than that. So, I lived vicariously through my best friend Staci’s recounts of the plays she saw in the club/class and imagined what it would be like to see them live on stage.
Granted I always forget that I saw Phantom of the Opera done by ‘Broadway Across Canada’ in those years of high school too which was mind blowing as well but having already seen the 2004 movie and knowing some of the ‘magic’ to expect I felt like it wasn’t an introduction to professional theatre so much as seeing something I already loved (once again) live on stage instead of a TV/movie screen. Phantom remains, to this day, my favourite musical and I’ll talk about that later on in this post.
Now, the moment I attribute to me falling head over heels in love with theatre was seeing our local professional theatre The Citadel Theatre’s production of ‘Pride & Prejudice’. My best friend invited me to a ‘Pay What You Can’ matinee showing or something of that nature. I’m SO glad I was able to go to The Citadel (finally) and was delighted to finally enjoy the same place that she had been attending for years.
Ok so I thought surely it was a 2007 production but upon research just now I’ve come to find I was blessed with it in 2008 in fact. The moment: the EXACT moment that I was like WOOOOOW and my world shifted took place when the stage began revolving in a circle and the bushes and trees moved past the characters as though they were walking but they remained still for the audience while it gave the illusion of walking a distance. (I’ve included some professional photos I found of the show that demonstrate said bushes on my Facebook post of this lol). I was floored. Something so simple opened up the possibilities that the stage could provide. No longer was I under the impression that scenes took place in a stationary set with the actors moving and pieces of the set being wheeled in and out during transitions and dropped down but now there was ‘magic’ on stage; illusions and new ideas of what was possible on a stage. Further on the play had (in Mr. Darcy’s house of course) a portrait of him on the wall and they had used the likeness of the actor playing him Rejean Cournoyer. Again, I was like a misty-eyed young child discovering that things were not as they seemed in the world of theatre, /they were BETTER/.
From that day on, I tried to attend the Citadel often and I haven’t looked back since. I also checked out The Fringe Festival in our city too and was exposed to even /more/ theatre! I began to consume live theatre slowly like a fire spreading lol
Let me now skip ahead to London, England (to save us all time coz I don’t want to write a novel for you with a play by play of each play I’ve seen hahahahaha). I moved to London (for 2 years) with the excitement that I would be able to see many more productions because ‘The West End’ and ‘National Theatre’ and ‘The Globe Theatre’ and my soon discovery of ‘Royal Shakespeare Company’ were renowned even to me who had lived so far away from them all. I was overwhelmed with excitement to consume the theatre of London and England, and I did.
I cannot say how many productions I attended off the top of my head but it was MANY. And each experience (even if I was seeing the same show again) was an entirely different experience and I am SO grateful for each production that I was fortunate enough to be in the audience for.
I’ve included many photos of myself at these plays though not /ALL/ my photos because they are so innumerable <3
While on the topic of photos, I have tried to take ‘seat selfies’ of myself and what I have nicknamed ‘stage selfies’ (a picture of the stage before opening curtain, when allowed) at pretty much every single show I’ve gone to since 2009 (when I saw Sweeney Todd). It’s been a wonderful tradition that I hope to continue for decades to come lol
I was so extremely excited to see my favourite musical ‘Phantom’ again in London because it originated there and because I knew they could do so, so much that a traveling production could not. I was NOT disappointed. Tears came to my eyes with the opening Overture as that gorgeous chandelier rose into place. And the same thing happened the next 3 times I was fortunate enough to watch the show in London, in various parts of the theatre (my favourite being when I was in Row G on the floor and the chandelier both rose and crashed slightly left of me and almost overtop me it felt at the time)!
I was excited too to see both Phantom and Les Miserables because I in advance knew of 2 actresses in each of those shows that I wanted to see: Celinde Schoenmaker in PotO who I had been introduced to by a friend with YouTube videos of Celinde in unrelated singing roles and Carrie Hope Fletcher in Les Mis who is sister to a member of one of my favorite bands and by extension following her social media fell in love with her charm and singing voice as well! Both ladies absolutely killed their roles and I was moved and humbled to eventually meet both of them at stage door (separate occasions both at Les Mis haha since Celinde was in that production as Fantine as well whilst I was having my England Escapade). It was incredible to see two people that I previously knew of and their talents up there live.
Further to that point, I have been blessed enough to see MANY people of international fame live on stage (some in Phantom, some in Shakespeare productions, some in other less-known plays, others in West-End live festival performances) and what it has taught me is that: one, these people are not only incredible at their jobs as actors but also two, they have such humility and are yes celebrities but they’re also people just doing something they have a passion for. Theatre has given me the incredible opportunity to see that fact: you can be internationally sought out for your talent or you can be in a production for the 1st time in your life but either way it comes down to the wonderful experience of the performing and the performance that the audience shares with you. Sometimes looking back and listing off people like Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Gemma Arterton, John Owen Jones, Ramin Karimloo, Jim Broadbent, Dominic Cooper, Lily James, Richard Madden, Derek Jacobi, Ralph Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave, Sir Ian McKellan, Sir Patrick Stewart, Samantha Barks, Ciaran Hinds, Simon Callow, Leo Bill, Sian Brooks … and more, I feel like I’m bragging and name dropping and I also have a moment of disbelief that I shared a room with them and saw them with my own two eyes… And then I think about how I felt in the moment of seeing their performances on stage and I realize that for a few seconds, maybe even a minute or two, I was sitting there in disbelief of “oh my gosh this is so-and-so” but then after that: the performance took over. They ceased to be those people of ‘celebrity’ they were a character and I was seeing that character’s journey. Further to that, when I would later be lucky enough to meet a few of these people at Stage Door and have even just a moment to say “hello thank you for that wonderful performance” again it was a few moments of disbelief and then they spoke to me so kindly and humbly and it has brought me back to the realization that a love for performance, for live theatre, for storytelling from both ends unites us all onto the same level; makes us have something in common.
Theatre transcends into a place that other forms of storytelling and media cannot and do not do. Theatre brings people together emotionally, physically, spiritually… There is something so tangible and yet indescribable in ways that I really just say that theatre while it might not be for everyone certainly can have something for everyone and that I honestly am so grateful for theatre existing as a form of storytelling that we as human beings have been doing for thousands of years. And I know perhaps just a little piece of why that is.
While this year has been hard not to be able to attend live theatre, I am grateful for the theatre communities across the world for still finding ways to share it digitally. While it’s hard not to experience a play or musical in-person (for that provides truly an incredible and unique experience that you don’t and cannot get watching something filmed), I am glad that we still have been able to try and come together and still tell stories and share with each other in this way.
I haven’t even touched on my love of theatre from the perspective of an actor (which I’ve been fortunate enough to be several times or dozens depending on what way I look at it haha). I hope that in future I can expand my acting experience and share in my love for theatre in that way also!
Gosh I could go on and on about why I love theatre and what it has brought to me and what I’ve experienced in my limited years of enjoyment of it but I will just conclude here with saying a huge thank you to performers, crew, and anyone and everyone who has ever had a hand or a say in theatre across the world whenever and wherever it is being performed past, present and future, whether it be a huge professional production or a skit done in front of your family or friends. You (and I) are doing, have done and will do something incredible and I’m so glad for it. So, so glad.
