rose petals, a new blog by margaret rose
SOMEONE MADE THE MAGIC
That moment just before the overture begins. That moment, whether I’m in the audience, whether I’m the writer/director peeking in from the back row, or whether I’m backstage on the crew or in the cast … that moment when all are assembled, ready, anticipating … that moment just before we collectively launch ourselves into a shared journey of musical theater. One of my favorite moments in any show I’ve ever seen. The Moment Before. That moment, when we don’t know yet if the show will or won’t connect with the audience. It’s live theater and anything can happen, bad or good … and when it all happens as planned, it can be an evening of Theater Magic.
Making Magic with some of the most talented performers with whom I've ever shared the stage.
My earliest recollection of the use of "magic" in relation to theater was a Letter to the Editor of the Modesto Bee, when the writer wanted Modesto to know how much she had enjoyed a one-night-only performance of a huge musical revue which our local Youth Theater had presented. In describing our performance, she wrote, "There can be a magic that lights up a stage, that excites an audience, that creates a bond of love between performers and audience members; not often enough can magic like that happen." She went on to proclaim that our show had, indeed, been a night of theater Magic. I was only 20 years old at the time, with but a few high school and Youth Theater shows to my credit, but I knew she was correct about that particular performance. Even now, after decades of creating professional musical theater, the Showcase of Talent in Modesto is still one I look back on as a truly magical experience. I kept that Modesto Bee quote taped to my mirror as I set off to make a theater career for myself, in the hope that I would again experience such "magic."
And I did. Many times. In fact, I’ve experienced theater Magic so often; that I now know the Letter to the Editor was way off the mark when she wrote that it didn’t happen often. It’s been happening all my life, all around me, on stages from New York to Florida to California. What I’ve come to learn is that Theater Magic occurs when a brilliant moment of theater appears effortless: when all of the possible variables of theatrical production coalesce into a transformative suspension of disbelief, a moment of wonder, joy, heartache, triumph, sorrow, love. A moment, unique in all time, shared by all present, but immediately dissolved and gone forever. It is such an astonishing thing to witness, that the only appropriate label for it is “magic.”
Whether it’s a perfectly timed punch line, a musical phrase at the climax of a song, a stunningly beautiful costume, or the reveal of a set so exquisitely awash in light that it takes your breath away, it can be Magic. But it doesn’t appear with the wave of a sorcerer’s wand, or at the whim of some controlling theater gods. Theater Magic isn’t “magic” at all; it’s really very hard work. Magic only happens through the hard work of technicians, actors, songwriters, musicians, designers, seamstresses, carpenters, painters, electricians, directors, producers, stage managers, and a whole army of folks working together to craft Magic in the telling of a story.
So, that's what this blog is about. The Magic of musical theater. And the really hard work it takes to make it.
I'm glad you're coming along this journey with me. What has been your most magical experience in the theater? Add it to the comments and let us all enjoy it with you!