article for the school paper - i'm awesome

Okay, I have a problem. When I was 3 years old, I was cast as Baby Jesus in my Church’s Christmas Extravaganza. A few years later, I continued my famed journey through my Church Play yellow brick road of excitement by playing “Tiny Tim” in A Christmas Carol. Once Mr. Jesus was no longer my theatrical director, I moved on to middle school plays – playing Captain Hook has far been surpassed as my best performance to date, easily. Much practice was necessary, but I forged through to my high school drama department, where I learned such lessons as: how to move around a stage, how to apply basic stage makeup and how to learn an entire show the morning of opening night because Farmer #3 was “grounded and [his] mother won’t let [him],” or some such ridiculousness that often occurs. Applying for College, where I knew I would be majoring in Theatre, was one of the most tedious times of my life.

And now I have a problem.

Last week, Mill Mountain Theatre, one of the most celebrated theatres in Virginia, located in Downtown Roanoke, announced that they would be closing their doors. The news of MMT closing has caused many people in the area to be very upset.  Being able to experience live theatre is one of man’s oldest pastimes, and in the past few months many theatres all over America have closed their doors to patrons and cancelled any future production plans. School fieldtrips to see local productions of Romeo and Juliet will be taken out of the class curriculum for good. People will have less opportunity to see theatre being done.

I’m in my third year as a Theatre Major and I’m scared. My education has been amazing, I’ve had experiences that I will never forget and I hope to continue having them until I graduate. But what happens next? I’ve learned how to audition and I know a good amount about the “business” side of the theatre world – but where is theatre going to be when I’m ready for it?

If the theatres go away, the money goes away and where does that put the artists? The same goes for painters or photographers -- when the galleries go away, where do you go? Naturally, we could blame the Economy, which is the reason for the many small Christmas mornings that you heard about from everyone after break.  But that aside, there needs to be more butts in the seats of the theatre. Our society has slowly lost it’s major interest in theatre. “A Night at the Theatre” has changed into “Going to a Movie” far too much in the years past and we are facing major issues.

A world without theatre is not a place in which I wish to live. So, what do we do next? We could wait around for the economy to get back on track, sure. But what should really happen is a revival of art everywhere. If we could stumble upon a new-age Renaissance, where everyone was supporting the arts and seeing it happen, we may not have these problems anymore. Unfortunately, our society seems too wrapped up in itself right now for that to happen.

So, for those of you who care: Do something about it. Help me and those of you like me -- don’t let art disappear from our lives completely. A life of black and white will destroy us all.

Save the Theatre. Support Live Art.

-Deejay Gray, The Tartan, January 27, 2009