A talented city.

I had such a wonderful weekend of theatre going! A dance performance on Friday, a musical on Saturday, and one on Sunday. The show on Sunday really blew me away. It was a production of Jonathan Larson's "Rent," and it was a community theatre show. It made me realize again just how talented people are in this area.

I have seen such amazing community theatre over my years here in Kansas City. Oftentimes I have seen people give performances that are clearly on a professional level. I grew up in an area that didn't always do the best in this arena (to put it politely.) Here, I have to say that my feeling is that the only reason some of these folks haven't "gone pro" so to speak is because they want to have "normal" lives (and perhaps make steady money!)

I find it interesting that the energy and commitment levels people have when they're not being paid for their performances can seem much higher sometimes than. They are performing purely for the love of their art. There's something admirable about that. I'm not saying that it's better or worse than those of us who want to try to make a living at it, but I do find it interesting to see the difference in the dynamics between the two.

I have been joking lately that I only want to do things from now on that are "commercially viable"-a phrase I stole from a friend of mine. "I have artistic fulfillment coming out the wazoo right now" I tell people. "I just want to make money and be comfortable!" Of course this isn't completely true. However, as I've said before, I will be interested to see how my dancing goes when I'm not getting paid anymore to do it full time. I'm lucky to have been paid for so long to do what I love, but I'm excited to do it once again solely for the love of it.