Theatre Hand Off

In May 1990, I walked off the stage of Havens Auditorium in Kokomo for the last time. I never expected to reenter the theatre as I was about to move, but I felt immense satisfaction when I took my last curtain call as King Arthur in Camelot. Now, 34 years later, I walked back into Havens through the front door versus the stage door. I was going to see my granddaughter begin her performance journey.

I wasn’t really familiar with the audience side of the theater, but I don't think there had been any major changes. Havens was full of parents, siblings, and grandparents who’d come to see their family member perform. My pride is why I called this her performance when, in reality, it was a performance of several groups of students from the local dance studio. That meant there’d be several performances before and after my granddaughter’s class made their appearance. That’s okay, young kids performing for the first time publicly need all the applause they can get.

As a people watcher, this was an entertaining environment. You could easily tell which parents and relatives had kids currently on the stage. Loud applause, cheering and calling their child’s name, as they leaned forward in their seats enraptured in the performance before them. As someone who didn’t do team sports growing up, it was great to see parents giving the same energy this as those who might sit in the bleachers watching their kids on the field.

When I watched my granddaughter dance with her group of peers, it'd be expected for me to claim she was the most talented kid up there. However, I realized that objectively a lot of what I was seeing was simply her genuine talent, not just my familial pride. 

She held her head up and looked at the audience. You could tell she was concentrating on what she was doing by the expressions on her face, but that was also an outward reflection of the inner workings driving her performance. She radiated calm and confidence. While some kids were a bit confused and stopped between various routines to prepare for the next action (which is normal for a first performance on stage) she flowed fluidly from one thing to the next. Did she remember all the routines, or was it just that she knew her motions needed to be tied together rather than seen as separate bits? She has stage presence.

When the show was over, we met backstage to present her with flowers; she had done an exceptional job and deserved the praise. More than that, she now owned that stage and I was okay passing it on to her, as she deserved to be there.

From the first time I took the stage as a Kindergartener (toy soldier in a Christmas play) I felt the electricity that is live performing. Throughout my life, I have found great joy being on stage, and it has been my go-to place for recharging and rebirth. Be it a theatre with a large cast, a club or coffeehouse with just a friend or two, or in a train station or around a campfire with just my guitar I have found great satisfaction in that connection with an audience be they large or small. Some of us have been fortunate enough to thrive on the exchange of energy that feeds the performer while entertaining the watcher. 

The only two things I wanted to do on stage which I never got around to were sword fighting and tap dancing. Not sure I will ever get around to those, but that’s okay. As I hand off the spotlight to my insanely talented granddaughter, I know she will do that and more.  

The highest praise I ever received came from a fellow performer, years after we had on stage together. She called me a natural on stage. Thanks but I’m not really one to judge that, Susie. However, I have no doubts that my granddaughter is a natural performer.

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Croce, the Ultimate Singer, Songwriter, Storyteller

Shortly after I turned 14, Jim Croce died in a plane crash. I'm not sure if it was before or after that I first heard him actually perform one of his songs. I do know that the Muppets were the ones that turned me on to his music with their version of You Don't Mess Around With Jim. Actually, I'm using Muppets in the broadest sense because Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson were performing as The Country Trio. What I loved about the song was the storytelling. Not only that, the story was funny and had a good turn around at the end.

Something to ponder while watching this: The song is about a man named Jim, written by a man named Jim, sung by a character named Jim, performed by a man named Jim.

As I got older, I sought out more and more of his songs. Many of them were stories set to music in the most amazing way. Roller Derby Queen, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, RapidRoy (The StockCar Boy), Speedball Tucker, and more. Each of them filled with memorable characters and a quick glimpse into their life. As a wannabe storyteller who was learning to play the guitar, I found great joy in the music of Jim Croce. Then, as adolescence took firm hold, I began to find meaning in his other songs.

People sometimes call his music melancholy as if it's a bad thing, it isn't.  I've always maintained there's a bit of warmth to be found in melancholy existing nowhere else. Among these,  were leaving songs like Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels) and One Less That a Footsteps. There were also songs celebrating the happiness of love, like Time in a Bottle and I'll Have To Say I Love You In a Song. and the, dammit I'm being treated wrong by my girlfriend" songs like Lover's Cross.

What I really like about all of the songs, stories, and love ballads, was that they were within my vocal range.  Even though I wasn't trying to emulate Croce, when I sang them they didn't sound half bad. Also, because of the sparse music accompaniment (one or two guitars)  in his music they didn't sound hollow when performed as a solo.

Later, I discovered his posthumous album The Faces I've Been.  the double album was a collection of traditional folk, This Land Is Your Land, and segments of him telling stories. The man could tell a narrative story every bit as well as he could tell one in song.   it was the first time that I became aware of how varied his life experiences were and how they contributed to his music and stories. He held dozens of part-time jobs while trying to get a break. The result is in his music. I wore out two copies of that album before I switched it over to digital.

How did I end up with a blog entry gushing over a musician who's been gone since 1973?  Recently, someone posted an entry online about him and included a recording of him singing Operator. That song holds a special place with me, it was the first song I ever played and sang before a crowd larger than two or three people.

During my high school's Spring Concert in 1977, I got brave enough to walk on the stage by myself and perform that song. While I was reflecting on that bit of history another bit of history slapped me in the face. When I lived in Kokomo, in the spring of 1989, I performed a Coffeehaus at Dad's Deli. I played four or five original songs and told a few stories, but the last song I played was Croce's song Railroads and Riverboats, harmony performed by Melanie Kenner. As of today, it is the last time I've performed in public for more than two or three people.

Looking back on that realization, I think it is only an appropriate set of bookends that my first and last performances were both written by Jim Croce.

If you are not familiar with Jim Croce, I encourage you to look him up on YouTube or somewhere else and discover his music.

If you are a glutton for punishment, I have provided links to both live performances. Keep in mind both of these were recorded with a portable cassette recorder using the built-in microphone. When I had it digitized, they were able to clean up some of the noise but it is still rough.

Operator

Railroads & Riverboats

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