But through the magic of Facebook here we are again, friends, this time both with kids (She has 4!), and now on opposite sides of the country (She's now on the east coast).
So I started surfing around on her Facebook page looking at pictures of her family and then discovered that she had pictures tagged in a group we both belonged to, Castle Theater Guild.
Castle Theater Guild was the theater program at my high school that I found my way into. The start of my lifelong love affair with technical production and lighting started on that stage. Special shout out to Sandy if you're reading this. Thanks dude! For everything!
As I looked at the pictures of her, and then started looking at all the pictures posted to the site, I noticed something, there aren't many pictures of the production crew. I had looked at the site years ago when I first joined. There was less than 50 photos, three of which featured myself and/or other crew people. Now there's over 200 pictures, with only one more picture of a crew person.
The rest of the pictures were of the actors and dancers. Most of the pictures are from the high school days, but there are also pictures of the actors and dancers long after. Some of the pictures feature actors who went on to star in national performances of Broadway musicals (Most notably, Miss Saigon), and are being visited by other actors.
Where are the pictures of the crew and what happened to us after high school? I know I'm not the only crew guy who's a member of the Castle Theater Guild group. Did we not take pictures?
Maybe it's just the nature of crew people to be "behind the scenes" and remain unsung. We were never in front of the camera, but behind it in our black clothes.
I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say. Maybe I'm rambling a bit, but here's what the thought that prompted the title of this blog; Did all those people I worked with in high school just forget about the crew, or did we just outgrow them?
When I say outgrow, I think I'm saying we grew up. It seems the actors and dancers still live a fairytale life of acting and dancing hoping one day to "make it", where myself and other crew people have continued to do what we did in high school, but we now get paid.
One of the crew people I worked with is now a stage manager at a hotel/casino in Las Vegas. Another owns his own production business in Hawai'i. There is even one guy who, spent his years as a dancer on the stage, but now makes a living as an artistic producer for one of the largest convention companies in the U.S.
And me, I've done lighting and set designs for some major musical acts, and now am programming lighting for major television shows and events.
There's a very slim chance that someone will become a famous actor, you have a better chance of making a livelihood (although not as a millionaire) as a production person of some sort.
I can't think of any of the actors having made it past performing in national musical tours or on Broadway. An accomplishment for sure, I don't knock it, but do they still work in the field they love? Or is acting, singing and dancing still just hobbies?
I'm blessed that my job is also my hobby. Although my priorities may have shifted in the last year to concentrate more on my family and less with my career, but I'm still doing what I love. What I've loved since high school.
All these former actors are my friends on Facebook. I hope they remember who I am. I know I remember each of them, and most of the roles they played. I would hope they could remember the role I played. I would like to think that they can look fondly on our years in high school (and for me a few years after) and have happy memories of us. I know I do.
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