What Good Is Sitting Alone in Your Room?

I’ve had that line running through my head lately:
What good is sitting alone in your room?

Of course, a lot of theatre begins alone:
You learn the song alone.
You study the script alone.
You practice the audition alone.
You hone the performance alone.
You imagine, alone, the version of yourself who finally walks into that room.

That work matters. Preparation matters. But it is not the same as making theatre.

Theatre begins when the private work meets other people.

It begins when you walk onto a stage and realize you are no longer in control of everything. It begins when you make eye contact with a scene partner. It begins when someone responds to you differently than you anticipated, and suddenly you have to react instead of perform. It begins when a director gives you a note you did not expect. It begins when the audience laughs at a line you never thought was funny or goes completely still in a moment you thought would pass by.

You can practice alone.
You cannot collaborate alone.
And theatre, at its best, is collaboration.

I’ve spent many years encouraging others to show up, get involved, and stay engaged:
Get in the room. Learn from the room. Be useful in the room.

Now, in this new chapter of my own life, I am reminded daily that the same advice applies to me.

My first professional audition after retiring from the PAC was for The Stephen Foster Story.

And I choked.

I don’t mean that metaphorically. I mean, I started to sing, my throat seized up, I coughed, and I could not sing. Whatever I imagined would happen in that room that day didn’t happen.

That is humbling. It’s also not the end of the story.

The next audition went better. The one after that went really well. Then they started getting better and better. Eventually, I started getting cast.

That’s how this works. It’s not like flipping a light switch. You don’t go from afraid to fearless in one clean, cinematic moment. You improve gradually. You learn gradually. You recover gradually. You get better by doing the thing, not by waiting until you are certain you will be wonderful at it.

That is the part no one can do for you.

Someone may welcome you once you open the door. Someone may be glad you came. Someone may give you a chance, offer a note, show you where to stand, hand you a paintbrush, teach you how to run the light board, or invite you into the next conversation.

But very rarely will someone come to your house, put the key in the lock, open the door, and walk you through it.

At some point, you have to turn the knob yourself and take that step.

That’s true whether you want to perform, volunteer, work backstage, serve on a board, or become the kind of audience member who keeps local theatre alive.

But none of that happens if you stay at home waiting to be invited.

That is the comfortable trap of being almost ready.

Almost ready to audition.
Almost ready to volunteer.
Almost ready to try again after years away.
Almost ready to walk back into a theatre and say, “I’d like to help.”

I understand that feeling. Believe me, I’ve lived it.

But waiting does not make you ready. Doing makes you ready.

You get better by walking into the room, surviving the awkward first attempt, learning from it, and walking into another room. And another. And another.

This summer, one of the rooms I entered was Clarksville Little Theatre, where I’ll be performing in Cabaret.

How fitting. Cabaret is itself a show about the danger of retreating from the world. It is entertaining, seductive, funny, musical, theatrical — and then it quietly asks what we are willing to ignore while the music plays. And yes, I would love for you to see it.

Tickets for Cabaret at Clarksville Little Theatre are available here:
Clarksville Little Theatre Tickets

And while we’re talking about opening the door, I hope you’ll also see Youth Theatre of Hardin County’s production of Shrek The Musical at The PAC. Shrek is another character who discovers there is more to life than mucking around in his swamp once he opens himself up to helping others. Tickets and performance information are available here:
Youth Theatre of Hardin County — Shrek The Musical

But this post isn’t only an invitation to watch me and others take the stage. I want it to be an invitation to be part of something yourself.

If you are in the Hardin County area and have ever thought, “Maybe I should audition for something,” The PAC has auditions coming up for Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest — a sharp, witty, ridiculous, elegant, and very funny ensemble comedy.

Information and registration for The Importance of Being Earnest auditions are available here:
The PAC ProAm Auditions — The Importance of Being Earnest

And if you feel called to the darker, more demanding end of musical theatre, Central Kentucky Theatre’s auditions for Sweeney Todd are also on the horizon. The audition information includes details on video submissions, roles, callbacks, and production expectations.

You can find the Sweeney Todd audition information here:
Central Kentucky Theatre — Sweeney Todd Audition Information

The point is not that everyone needs to be onstage.
The point is that the arts are not a spectator sport unless we let them become one.

So sit alone in your room only when you need to. Practice. Prepare. Dream. Learn the notes. Read the play. Sing into the mirror. Do the work.

Then open the door.

Come see Cabaret.
Go see Shrek The Musical.
Audition for The Importance of Being Earnest.
Audition for Sweeney Todd.
Volunteer.
Buy a ticket.
Bring someone with you.

The room is where the art happens.

It is where life happens.

And there is still room for you.

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