I did something I said I would never do again…theatre. “But Stephanie”, you might say, “Didn’t you get a degree in Theatre?” Well the answer is yes, I’m still a strong believer that an actor needs to spend time on stage as this is the very root of acting. The skills you develop in memorization, blocking, projection (reaching that last person in the back row), rehearsing, and being on, live, where anything can happen and you have to deal with it, are traits that make you a stronger actor. There is the instant gratification: the applause, the standing ovations, the laughter and tears right in front of you at every performance. There have been stories of screen actors going to their first public appearance and being shocked that they had crowds of fans, screaming their names, as they had been locked away in a sound stage for months before. There is also the ability to manipulate the performances, one of the New York actors in the role of the priest in “Doubt” said he fed off the energy of the audience and would adjust the idea of if his character was guilty or not based on what the audience was feeling on a given night. It also allows for an audience member to be able to see a show a second or third time and get a whole new experience. Now here comes my big “But”…Theatre is TIME CONSUMING. In comparison,  for a commercial you typically walk on set, do a quick blocking and start shooting, you could be looking at working at a day of work, two at the most, sometimes double or triple what you would make on the stage in under 24 hours. Films are knocked out in months (weeks in the case of movies like “Sharknato”) but a play takes months of rehearsals and then the weeks or months of the run of the show, it is a huge commitment…one I was trying to avoid. So, why go back? Frankly, I was offered a role I couldn’t refuse: Miss Shields in the musical version of “A Christmas Story”, yes, I got to dust off my tap shoes and sing “You’ll shoot your eye out.” The nights were long with rehearsals, the choreography…exhausting, the errors and missed cues stop your heart, but man, there is nothing like singing your guts out to an audience that came to a little community theatre production and walked away amazed and entertain. Being part of a “family” of actors who work together for months is incredible, even the backstage crew are a huge part of what makes these shows work, everyone is essential and appreciated. There is nothing like the applause, the feeling of accomplishment, the end result of saying “I did it!” 
Going back to your roots is a wonderful chance to relive some of your best and tiring parts of life. Maybe try dusting off something you haven’t picked up in a while and see if the thrill doesn’t come back, I “Double dog dare you!”

I have been noticing I’m a lot more reserved in the company of other parents. With four kids, we are at a lot of after school programs: Swimming, Scouts, Dance, Cooking, Drums, French, and the list goes on. At these programs we send off our children to engage in an activity that will (hopefully) make them more rounded individuals, giving them life skills that will aid them in getting a good job, or to just keep them away from TV for a few hours. In this time, we, the adults, stand or sit around and inevitably, start talking to each other. 99% of the time we talk about our kids, this alone is a wonderful people watching endeavour. You have the people who brag about their kids, is it because they never succeeded in this area of life? Are they hoping this will make us look more favourably on these wonderful parents with child prodigies? Then there are the parents that are there against their will, do the kids just want it more than them? Did the “ex” sign the child up without consulting their schedule? There are parents that complain about their kids the whole time, I kind of enjoy these parents, seeing that I vent about my kids, publicly however, with my @antimommy account on Twitter. As I talk to theses parents, I gauge how much we can talk outside of our main topic of children. I’m interested in finding out what these people do, how they met their spouses, what they like to do as hobbies. I find that when the topic comes to what I do for a living there is some shock. “You get up on stage and make people laugh?” “You audition for roles?” and then most times the conversation ends with “I could never do what you do.” Which, of course, goes against everything I teach at my acting school.  I truly believe anyone can improvise, we do it everyday. The essence of improv and acting is play, and we all did it when we were the same age as our children are now, inside said gym, classroom, or field. I’m not sure why parents drag their kids (and in some cases, the whole family) around to cater to these 45 min. of self expression and creativity, of team skills and physical development, and forget that they are made of the same stuff their kids are. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks and in the case of improv, it is re-igniting the skills of creativity and spontaneity that we were all born with, everyone was a skilled player in the game of “pretend!”
If the conversation finds itself at this point, I turn the attention back to the kids, I mean can you imagine if they find out that I have an extreme blue sense of humour that can only be deemed Politically Incorrect? Or that I’m currently pitching a TV Show called Cougars where women are sleeping with men half their age? Nope. I can’t relate to most parents. I’ll just be here holding the coats.