Due to a combination of circumstances including studying for the P.E. exam and having surgery, it’s been a year since I opened a show. Which probably explains why I was even more excited than usual for opening night of Beauty and the Beast on Friday. And then, at the end of the show, something happened that made this one of my favorite opening nights.
The finale blocking starts with just Belle and the (former) Beast onstage. Then the rest of us enter while we’re singing.
Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast
As I entered singing those words and saw a crowd full of friends and family applauding and rising to their feet (standing ovation before the curtain call!), I suddenly found tears in my eyes and could barely keep singing. And a storm of thoughts started racing themselves through my mind:
“What is happening? I must have lost the story somewhere between the notes and steps. Now I remember. It doesn’t matter if the tale is as old as time or if it’s happened a million times before. It’s still beautiful in the moment. So just be present in it. Even if the moment is not-so-beautiful, I’m in it for a reason. So stay present in it anyway. And this moment is why I do theatre. There is so much love in the room right now from everyone onstage, backstage, and in the audience. We’re creating magic and I get to be part of it. Thank You, God, for letting me be here in this moment and for giving us reminders like this that You are always with us. I’ll remember this moment for the rest of my life.”
Okay, I articulated those thoughts a little more after the fact, but it still captures the general gist of what sped through my mind during the last few minutes of the performance. And based on conversations in the dressing room, I know I wasn’t the only one who teared up. There was definitely something special happening. Pure magic.
So at least for opening night, that moment beat out getting shot in the arm with the confetti cannon at the end of “Be Our Guest” for my favorite part of the show.
A Shift In The Light 