As a child were you involved with children’s theater? If so, how did it help you

Question:My platform is for children's theater and I have to write a paper on it.

How did children's theater change your life? Thanks in advance for any help you could give!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My platform is for children's theater and I have to write a paper on it.

How did children's theater change your life? Thanks in advance for any help you could give!

I began acting at age nine was in six musicals in the following four years.

Acting helped me be someone I couldn't be in real life. When I put on the costumes and makeup and climbed up on stage with the lights in my eyes and the microphone wired to me, I was able to forget the limitations of real life. I could forget about all my problems for a couple hours.

I participated in several plays as a child/teenager. I played Anne of Green Gables in 5th grade, I had a part in a Missoula Children's Theatre play when I was in 8th grade, and as a freshman, I did a monologue and was the only freshman to receive a superior rating at the district drama competition.

I think children's theatre is a wonderful thing. Not only does it help to improve memory skills and team work, but it improves confidence and communication skills to speak in front of a crowd.

It is also a venue for creative expression and personal interpretation--the way you say a line can imply different levels of meaning, for example.

I was a very shy young person, but by taking on different roles and playing different characters, it provided me a safe way to come out of my shell.

I began life as a very shy child....a fact that was not helped by a physical difference that occurred because of an accident when I was 5. Acting brought me out of my shell.

I learned how to act...I learned how to think and emote...to take some of my saddest memories and put them into motion, enabling me to bring an audience to tears... or to take some of my most laughable moments and make the audience laugh as well.

I learned how to become a character, if only for a little while. This has helped me immensly in my everyday life. By using psychology and empathy, I have the added edge of understanding that most don't think of, especially when dealing with children as I do.

I've been acting since the age of 3 and proffesionally acting since the age of 10.

It's heled me with confedence, with knowing what looks good on me and what doesn't. it taught me to stand strong, how to progect, not to give up, and not to back down. I can put makeup on thanks to a lack of makeup artists when I was doing Pippin. Through the theatre I found a friend who will never back down, and who always has the best advice- Broadway. Theatre is my soul, my sweetness, and my life.

I think it helped me to better read people more accurately.
I was taught basic human expressions and what they mean because we had to incorporate emotion in our acting. I feel also that it gave me a deeper appreciation for art in general.
It helped me to expand my horizons rather than settle for a mundane life.
I even started reading plays and opera scores.
It was definitely a positive influence in my life.

Personally, I was not involved in children's theater as a child, but my son was very involved and I worked with a large group of kids who trained for musical theater...several of them are now on Broadway. Many of the skills that are developed while participating in children's theater can be used throughout a person's life. In the case of musical theater, kids develop acting, singing, and dancing skills which all relate to music. If you are interested in learning about what musical skills can do for a kid you can go to http://www.musical-theater-kids.com/kids...
Think about how the skills developed in music(many of them similar to the study of theater as they are both collaborative) can help you later on in life,...how they translate into job skills (star or not), personal skills... and you will have a good foundation for your platform.