Ham

I was a ham when I was small.

I was in two professional stage productions of the “King and I.”

In both productions I was one of the royal children.

My first theatrical experience was in 1966 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto.

The King in this production was played by the late Darren McGavin.

I had a line in this show.

My line took place in the school room scene where Mrs. Anna was giving a geography lesson to the royal wives and children.    

My line was “walk on water?”  

She was teaching us about snow.

My second theatrical experience was in 1968 at the O’Keefe Centre (now the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts) in Toronto.

The King in this production was played by the late Michael Ansara.

Every night in both productions there was a costume to change into, make-up to be applied, lyrics to remember, marks to hit and down-time spent in the green room.     

Those productions were fun times.

I wonder what the other royal children are up to?   

The King and I is of course my all-time favourite musical.

I saw a movie musical today “La La Land” (with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone) that I highly recommend.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are perfect in this film. They sing. They dance. They act. You really root for their characters.  

Emotionally this film resonated with me. In one scene, Ms. Stone (who plays Mia) is an aspiring actress. She gets a call to audition for an important role. At first she is hesitant about going to the audition, because she feels she won’t get the part like all her other auditions. Mr. Gosling (who plays Sebastian) encourages her to go and offers to drive her to the audition. 

I like the musical score in this film.

One of the songs I like is called “Someone in the Crowd.” This too reminds me of the job search. The context of this song is that Mia’s friends encourage her to go to a particular party where she could network and possibly be discovered for a role.    

Give a listen to this terrific song.  

I was uninhibited as a child.

I liked to sing.

I grew up and lost my singing voice.

I became a more reserved person.

Lately I’ve come full circle.

I’m not quite the reserved person I used to be.

I like to speak my mind. 

Tactfully, of course.    

And I still appreciate a good musical!    

Originally Published on LinkedIn: December 28, 2016

Image Credit: Pixabay