Is it Stage Magic, Or Is It Real?

Is it Stage Magic, Or Is It Real?

Written by Sky Hermanson

Art by Aleks Carney

Watching a live theater performance can be emotional, intense, entertaining, and devastating. There’s something about the medium that hooks audiences, keeps them on the edge of their seats, and compels them to return to the theater for show after show. There’s some powerful thread that connects every individual member of the audience, the actors on stage, and the crew that creates the show. For the time that everyone is in a theater, the outside world, the ‘real’ world, is forgotten. The world of the show takes over. It nears magic. Brian Stokes Mitchell, a Tony-award-winning Broadway actor, once said that theater “has the power to transform an audience, an individual, or en masse, to transform them and give them an epiphanal experience that changes their life, opens their hearts and their minds and the way they think.”

I grew up doing a lot of acting in ensembles and bit roles in very small theater groups, an experience that I share with a lot of theater-makers. I haven’t been on stage performing in at least five years, and I took a lengthy break from theater during high school. I ended up at college as a writing major, with a plan to become a screenwriter. I made it a semester before I found myself being drawn back to theatre. Now I work on as many shows as possible (four so far this semester) and engage with theatre wherever I can. I admit, I’ve had my fair share of negative moments during rehearsal processes when shows didn’t go the way I hoped or the work weighed on my mental health, but I always return. I see many of my friends and peers continuing to work on shows despite their occasional negative experiences as well. So what is it about theater that we find so irresistible? 

Theater is unique because of its intense community and social aspect, which I personally adore. There’s just something about being in a physical space with a group of incredibly passionate people who are putting all of themselves into one project. The collective concentration creates a powerful energy. I recently had a conversation with Abby Lee (she/her), a student at Emerson who acts and directs and is intending to become a theater teacher. She shared that she has made long-lasting friendships through theatre because she and another individual were putting 100% of their time, energy, and love into a show, which is something she says can’t be found in many other places. She also spoke on how that feeling extends to the audience. While she was watching “The Wild Party,” put on by Musical Theatre Against the Grain, she said that she could feel the blood, sweat, and tears the entire cast and crew put into that show. Because no one in the cast left the stage except for a couple of scenes at the start, the audience could see their stamina and skill, coupled with the award-winning choreography that showcased their dancing talent. Towards the end of our conversation, she said that she considered theater to be a space for people who need an outlet for communicating. Theater is so special because of its ability to uplift and draw out voices. 

In early February, I got the opportunity to see the 7 Fingers show “Dual Reality” at the Cutler Majestic Theatre. I watched the show from onstage seating, which made my experience especially unique and wonderful. This meant that the performers directly interacted with me and performed feet (and, at times, inches) away from my seat. As audience members, we were encouraged to cheer, yell, and interact back with the dancers. I could feel my attention held for the entire 60-minute show. I forgot I was even onstage in a theater. This is something that I have never experienced in a movie theater, or watching a show in my own home. My human nature is compelled so much more by theater. 

In my opinion, the most magical part of any theater production is the final bows. If I know anyone in the cast, I will, without fail, cry every time I watch the bows. If I worked on the show, it’s likely that would turn into weeping. I am overwhelmed by the joy that comes from finishing a show and finally getting to put your hard work on display. It is comparable to the emotions that happen after an adrenaline rush. The world that has fully immersed me for hours finally falls apart, and I am forced back into reality, yet thankful and changed by the show.