The Stage Door of Life

        After a long night performing on Broadway, actors have the chance to finally head home and get a well-deserved full night’s sleep. They leave the theater through what is called the stage door. Patrons line the stage door after the show, hoping to catch the actors for a picture or to have them sign the show’s Playbill. Some actors are in a hurry to get home, but there are some that stick around to interact with the audience members. 

When I had the opportunity to travel to New York City with my school’s Performing Arts Program, I had the best experience at the Anastasia stage door. Christy Altomare, who played Anastasia, was one of the actors that stuck around to interact with the audience members. As you can probably guess, I was freaking out! The lead actress in the show was coming around to each individual person to take selfies and sign their Playbills! This wasn’t even the coolest part of the experience. The coolest part was when Christy started talking to each individual person at the stage door. She would stop signing the Playbill or stop taking selfies so that she could have intentional, genuine interactions with the audience. When you talked with her, she looked you straight in the eyes and truly listened to every word you said to her. She carried herself with such grace and humility that you forgot you just met her for the first time. It felt like you had talked before and that she genuinely cared for you and what you had to say.

In life, we often have these stage door moments. We “put on a show” when we play in the Friday night sports game, compete in Leadership or Career Development Events, perform in a concert, or whatever else we spend our time doing. Sometimes, we think that this performance is the part that will have the greatest impact on those around us. In reality, it’s those stage door moments that mean the most to those around us. 

If we stop and take the time to be genuine and intentional with those simple interactions, we show our audience that we’re human. We show them we care. We show them that we are their equals and we do what we do for them. These intentional moments are what adds the greatest value to others’ lives. 

Being intentional with every stage door moment,

Evan Coblentz

State Treasurer