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I started volunteering at a children’s theatre. Just finished the third of three production runs, seeing kids from 8 to 18 astound audiences with performances that surpass professional productions I’ve seen. It’s renewed my belief in the power of the arts to change lives, when my whole training and professional life has been in the sciences.
Hey just for my knowledge. My kids are proficient violin players and I heard from a friend that at some point the school theater teacher is going to plead with them to join so they can finally do Fiddler on the Roof. Anything to this? It is actually one of my favorite pieces, would love to see them on stage.
Seeing your kids on stage is magic—my son has been in various professional and amateur roles since he was 10. He can act and sing, which opened up musicals too. Having several aspects to performance has definitely helped him. Actor musicians can be in great demand, but since there are few (compared to actor / singer / dancer), I don’t think there are as many opportunities as there might be.
If your kids are ok with the acting side, definitely encourage them.
On a related note, I was also involved in the building of a new theatre at my kids school, and I tried to convince them to not restrict it to the music and drama departments. No matter what field you’re going to go into, being confident in front of an audience (even just presenting on your own subject) is a valuable skill that theatre can teach. I’m now grey enough to not worry about speaking to an audience. I wish I’d had that confidence earlier in my career.