Autobiography IV

Autobiography 4

     After a late start in learning to read, I really was able to excel once I got the hang of things. Always the first one to volunteer during group reading, and the student that completed the most accelerated reading point books. Finally being able to read like my fellow classmates was an accomplishment I couldn’t get over. Being in a Performing Arts school, there were so many different opportunities to express one’s self. At the end of each month, there would be a talent show, followed by two larger production plays. It took me couple month’s before I felt comfortable in front of the audience.

      The first play I was ever in was Pinocchio. I was given the part of Geppetto (yea – a little 9 year old playing a old puppeteer). Being in front of the parents was not my main fear; I knew them all pretty much anyway. It was being able to really learn and memorize my lines so I wouldn’t be the only one to screw up during the performance. Before accepting the role, I would not have thought that there would be so much literacy involved. Speaking and reading were two different things. And to be honest, I was barely emerging as a new reader! Yet with the help of my family and teachers – they went over the script with my countless times. Breaking things up – and using word association so I could remember my lines really helped me a lot.

      On the night of the first performance, I was really nervous. I remember freezing on the opening scene – I had to be talking to a set of puppets. That was a little embarrassing to me even though it was part of the play. I got through it and was able to memorize all my lines. The help the teacher’s provided was amazing. They way in which they would break down my lines and help me use people’s actions as clues for what I was to say next. When I think back on that day – the actual performance was a breeze, but the rehearsals were a lot more difficult. Memorizing a bunch of lines in sequence is easy, but when you have to break them up and do scenes out of order – you really have to have studied the lines very carefully.