September 7, 2012
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It Ain’t Over
This morning I read something:
“[W]e all come into this business loving Theatre–but we get over it. Either our hearts get broken one too many times by Theatre’s failure to requite our devotion and we leave the business, or we drop the fairy-tale romance and settle into a jaded marriage of show-business convenience.”
I don’t know why I picked up the current issue of American Theatre this morning. I mean, I had already read it. Or most of it. That quote is from the obituary of Ted Mann, written by Nick Wyman. Later Nick writes that “Ted never lost the romance.”
And as my morning mind often is a swirl of ideas during my commute, I suddenly recalled a movie from my childhood (and I had the pleasure of growing up during the 80s which is rife with amazing movies for kids that don’t pander or dumb down their stories). I thought of The Neverending Story. Of Atreyu and Artax in the Swamps of Sadness. How Artax gives up. How he gives in to his sadness and sinks down. And there’s nothing Atreyu can do to stop his dearest friend or save him.
Atreyu tries desperately to save Artax.
And I thought of little Bastion Bux crying in the school’s attic as he read all this. That he had to suffer with Atreyu in order to care about all the inhabitants of Fantasia so that he’d find the strength in himself to save it.This all sounds like a lot of cheese, I know. But I grew up in the 80s, so I have a special affinity for cheesy movies–especially ones with a lot of heart and lessons that can serve you well into your adult life.
So here’s the lesson, boys and girls.You can’t give up. You have to keep going. Or else you’ll sink. You’ll sink and disappear or sink and become completely jaded.
And perhaps you have to go into these swamps of sadness in order to come out the other end. Yes, you may lose something you love, but you’ll gain something as well. Sometimes we have to travel our particular journeys to learn something valuable, something about ourselves.
Now does this mean I’m able to suddenly make a 180 turn from yesterday (or rather all week)?
No.
But it puts it in perspective better. And it reminds me that I don’t want to lose my fairy-tale romance. And that like any relationship–it’s work.
So…time to get back to work.
And thank you, Nick. Thank you, Ted.
-M
