My Day At The Drama League Awards: A Personal Tale
If you look at any life you will find struggles, but question is whether you will find beauty?The Drama League Awards honor the beauty of life, which is something we all need to do. By honoring theater and its captured essence of humanity, you realize that Broadway does not just offer shows: its offers lessons.
The past few years have been a rollercoasters of ups and downs that left me feeling emotionally drained. Thus. as I was there interviewing stars, I felt moved. I was having a live-action “It Gets Better Campaign”, and I was completely aware of it. Admittedly, I have been the struggling actor. I know the feeling of the dreadful audition. Everyone gawking at each other trying to see what quality they have above the other for this role. Hence, I began reviewing to have an alternative connection to the world I love. Yet, even there, I had bosses that did not encourage positivity, which eventually led me to start this blog.
Often, positivity does not feel like the most rewarding attribute. Your light may not always be respected or noticed for the light it shines. Moreover, the enlightened path is a slower one but is also an endless one. When you fall you are stuck, but your rise is limitless. Therefore, when I saw all these stars I recalled my struggle and strides, and felt empathy and joy were perfect foundations for questioning. Thus, I came up with one, singular question: What was your happiest memory of a performance? I left the question a little ambiguous to make it interesting. What would they think of? A recent performance? A past one? Would they even talk of one of their own? Or in Theater? I wanted to see how their mind interpreted my question.
LIST of winners.
Judith Light: An oratorical contest where she tied with her best friend in grade school. (She is both fabulous and rhetorically elegant!)
Zachary Levi (Host): When he was 6 years old, he was the rooster in a school play. He was so nervous he left the stage, mid-act, and threw up. Embarrassed, he did not want to go back, but his mother bribed him with an Nintendo game. (I think I speak for everyone when I say thank you to his mom, and that she raised one of the friendliest people you will meet,)
Kelley Curran (The DingDong): When she had to step into the title role of Anna Karenina in 4 days time. She was nervous as she had to be off book, know her stage positions, and be fitted for costumes in that time. Yet, in the end, she was proud to see what her talent and determination was capable of doing. (P.S. Her Oscar de la Renta outfit was gorgeous in-person!)
Ana Villafañe (On Your Feet!): Ana’s happiest/most embarrassing memory, was when she kicked her shoe into the audience during the end of the first act. She died laughing after saying this crazy tale. (She is a sweetheart, and her kindness only made me happy that she won the competition to get the magnificent lead.)
Lin- Manuel Miranda: Watching his 7th grade class perform Hairspray. He said seeing their excitement made him know theater was his path. It also moved him to assure that in every performance, when he sees kids, to always include a wave or nod to them without breaking character, of course. (Such a cool, thoughtful guy.)
Alex Brightman (School of Rock): His happiest moment was premiere night of School of Rock. (P.S. Brightman is a perfect last name for this bright, personable actor.)
Khris Davis (The Royale); When he watches actors completely immerse themself into a role. He claims, as a fellow performer, it is the most exciting thing to know the moment an actor is completely lost and giving everything to his character. (He poetically compared to a river flow.)
Annette O’ Toole (Southern Comfort): When she would walk off the stage of Southern Comfort and mentally witness the transition between her character’s world and her own. She claimed it’s a moment that leaves her in awe.
Danai Gurira (Eclipse): For her, when she sees her writing come to life on stage, she feels happiness. Something about seeing the words being translated by the actors leaves her in wonderment. (She is a truly radiant person and writer.)
Kristine Nielsen (Hir): At the end of Hir’s show, the cast would sing “Daybreak.” The lyric “Ain’t no time to grieve” helped her overcome the grief over her mother’s recent passing. She said singing the song with cast-mates helped her feel light and hope in that dark time.
Michael Urie (Shows for Days): Watching the original cast of Ragtime on Broadway during his first day in New York. He said the excitement was surreal. (He’s a super charismatic person.)
Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple): In one of her performances of The Color Purple, she locked eyes with a woman in the audience suffering from cancer. She then proceeded to sing her song to her and claimed the moment was beautiful and made her and the woman feel like the only ones in the theatre.
Carmen Cusack (Brighstar) Realizing she had made it to Broadway as she sang her first song “Opening Night.” Hearing speak on that moment would move anyone to tears. (She was humble and joyful.)
Pictures of Other Broadway Stars I had the pleasure of talking too but not interviewing. Like, I mentioned, sometimes, artists want to hang around like human beings, to which I, respectfully, take off my press hat and put on a heart pin:
Laura Benanti (‘She Loves Me’)
Michael C Hall (‘Lazarus’)
Megan Hilty (‘Noises Off’)
Michael Shannon (‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’)
Ben Platt (‘Dear Evan: The Musical’)
Michelle Williams (‘Blackbird’)
Sophie Okonendo and Ben Whishaw (‘The Crucible’)
Jessie Mueller (‘Waitress: The Musical’)
Benjamin Walker (‘American Psycho: The Musical’)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (‘Fully Committed’)
The Drama League Awards/my dreams came true on May 20, 2016. It was one of the few moments of my life where I could say I was happiest with my performance, and one where my positivity attracted others.
