For a few months during my fourth grade year I was constantly sent home with fevers and sore throats. My mother would lay me on the couch in our living room, give me a sprite and crackers, and cover me in her fur coat. I know it’s an unusual blanket, but in Alabama, she rarely had a chance to use it and we didn’t have indoor pets, so it was wonderfully comforting. She’d turn on Turner Classics for me and one movie would constantly play. No matter how many times I saw it, I couldn’t stop watching.
In my sheltered southern world, at the age of 11, I had never seen such a beautiful line up of characters. They each had a different story to tell and none was like the others. They were all individuals, all the while being pushed to conform perfectly. This is what they wanted, what they strove for. There was romance, heartbreak, passion, angst, and all of this was told through song and dance! The movie was A CHORUS LINE.
I had been in dance lessons since I was a babe, and two years later my small private school decided to incorporate an annual musical. I was hooked. By my 9th grade year I was assisting the choreographer, and was the first underclassman to ever book the leading role. It was quite the upset. Predictably, I went on to get a degree in Music Theater and before my senior year, I played the role of Cassie in “A Chorus Line” at a summer stock playhouse.
