enter: stage right
like i said- i wasn’t like most boys.
i went to catholic school k-8 and we used to go see these plays at the arkansas arts center children’s theatre. that’s basically the extent of your field trips. it was on one of these trips that i decided i want to be… an actor.
i dragged my parents to some of the shows on the weekends and told them my dreams of one day being up there. they nodded and said that was great. since i was probably 11 or 12 i looked up the number of the theatre in the phonebook and gave them a call. i asked how someone could be on stage. they gave me a list of audtion dates and i begged my parents to take me.
it was a combination of excitement and nervousness the first time i ever audtioned for a show. i had to sing a song, like home on the range while some lady played the piano and then i had to learn this little combination dance. this is when i learned that i could actually dance.
so of course.. now i wanted to be an actor and a dancer.
i learned of a program at the theatre for kids during the summer and my parents paid out the ass to send me. i did that for several summers.
at this point i had realized that i was different than most boys.
at this point i realized that i liked boys.
i started high school, begged my parents not to send me to Catholic High school for boys- thank god they listened. i wanted to go to public school because the high school in my town had a great theater program. the best in the state.
and sure enough, i was in every musical and play for the next 4 years.
not only did i do shows there, i FINALLY landed a role at the children’s theatre - the place where my dream began.
i auditioned for a play at a “hip” theare in downtown little rock. yes, i said the word hip and little rock in the same sentence..
anyway, this is where i learned what it meant to be gay.
every guy that worked at the theatre was gay. and everyone was so accepting. besides myself, there was only probably 3 or 4 other kids my age. i was 15 at the time.
i remember the first time i ever lied to my parents about going out. i had at least 10 people involved in the scheme.
the theatre was doing evita and i wanted to go the cast party at my friend laura’s house. i told my parents that the cast was going over to her house after the show to have dinner and just relax. and that it would be easier for me to just stay the night there because it would be so late when we were done. i had laura tell my parents that there wouldn’t be drinking and that she would make sure nothing happened to me.
i drank so much that night. we all did. i drank so much that somehow at one point i remember putting on of laura’s dresses and walking the runway in her kitchen while everyone cheered me on. ( that was the only time i have ever worn a dress)
then we started dancing. and we drank more. we were all dancing in the kitchen when i said-
“omg, the floor is shaking!!”
with her arms in the air, drink in her hand - splashing everywhere-
“oh, its ok. its not like the floor’s gonna cave in to the den downstairs”
at the point, over the loud music, we heard a crash downstairs.
i start heading downstairs and when i get down there, i started laughing so hard that i hit the floor.
the celing fan had fallen because of us dancing upstairs.