Charity Night - And what made you join NKL?

[Denese]

This season the North Austin division is supporting Austin Children's Theater.org as our charity of choice. Our very own Cies is the music teacher there. When Cies and I were discussing the charity event evening, we discovered that we both played The Queen of Hearts when we were kids. We both participated in music and drama when we were in school. And this is why we want to support ACT.org to encourage kids with a passion for performing to continue.
This also made me wonder about everyone else in the league.
One of the reasons I joined NKL was to meet other people like myself - other people that enjoyed performing. Unfortunately, what ends up happening is we get to know our own team members, but not necessarily the people from other teams.
So ... I thought I'd start a thread leading up to Charity night.
What did you participate in when you were a kid? Or when and what event caused you to get bitten by the performing bug?

[Denese]

I'll go first. Among other things, I won a dance talent contest in 2nd grade, was The Queen of Hearts in 5th grade, president of the drama club in 8th grade, and on a couple of KLRU after school specials when I was in Junior High. - Denese

[Whitney]

I believe my first "official" role was as lion tamer in "the Bethune Elementary Big Top" which I'm pretty sure was written by one of the teachers :-)

But my favorite role? Wicked witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz. That green face paint was a monster to get off though!

Great thread, Denese!

[Paul "Peej" Secrest]

Great way to get people into each other's world...I have been performing in theatre and the entertainment industry for quite a long time. I have been apart of many theatre productions and think its cool to do a charity for kids with the passion to follow their dreams. I can't think of a single moment that made me want to perform but I enjoy making people laugh and just have a good ole time! ... PS VOTE BLACK :)

[Anthony Moody]

For me it had to be when I went backstage during the school play and accidentally walked in on a girl changing her costume. There were no dressing rooms and she was topless. I immediately looked away as it was the gentleman thing to do. From then on I knew my calling. Afterward I showed her my chest and I called us even. Eye for an Eye, it's in the bible.

[Erik]

Here is a story. Most of it is true.

When I was, oh, maybe in 4th or 5th grade, I was part of my school spelling bee. Kids from all different grades were part of it, and like everyone from the whole school was ushered into the chapel (private school) to see kids spell stuff. They lined us up according to grade level probably, and gave us a practice word, just so we could get used to how loud the microphone was and whatnot. I get up there and my word is "ego". Which, even for a practice word, is ridiculously easy. Since there was no chance of getting buzzed, and since the word was supereasy, I just blurted into the mic really fast "ego(E-G-O)ego" and immediately turned around to go to the end of the line. And like 3 steps in, the entire chapel starts cracking up. And I turn around, and they crack up more. Spelling fast is very funny, apparently. After it was done, people were all coming up to me and saying "hahahahha, ego(E-G-O)ego", and completely ignoring the guy who won.

Lessons learned:

1. Just because it's a spelling bee don't mean you can't be funny. Do what you want on the mic.
2. Don't walk away before it's time to.
3. blahblahblahblahblahkaraoke

PS I told a spelling bee story because I've never been in a school play or anything like that. tada

[Lorraine]

My first performance was "All I want for Christmas is my two Front Teeth" in the first grade. I was hooked, way back then!

[Charles]

Hi Denese :)

Alright, so a late answer is still an answer! I never really participated in any performance things when I was a kid. I was actually very shy in my young years. However, I did like watching people do the talent show and wished that I could have the guts to do it myself. A couple of years into college and my shyness was lost somewhere. After that I gave karaoke a shot and BAM, I was addicted to performing. Oh, and yes, it's possible for a straight guy to love musicals :).

[Jennifer]

I've been singing all my life. I joined my first choir when I was 8 - the Anchorage Girls Choir. In elementary school, I was in one or two church plays. In middle school I was in 2 hokey musicals. High school: one play, one musical. In college, a couple of operas. I sang in various choirs during most of that time, but I never studied music. In college I decided to teach myself guitar and take a stab at songwriting. I was a fairly decent chord-strummer in my early twenties (I was in Peace Corps and had a ton of free time), but my skills have faded since then. Even though I was really shy as a kid, I was accustomed to being up on a stage, so performance has always felt fairly natural. The things I struggle with in karaoke are: using a microphone, dancing and singing at the same time, trying to be funny, and just generally giving an engaging performance.

[Angel]

I will make this response short and sweet (like me :P)
a) What made me join NKL? I needed a creative outlet!
b) What did you participate in when you were a kid? Choir from age 6-13, competed in vocal competitions in grade school and middle school. joined play group theater in new york when I was 17
c) When and what event caused you to get bitten by the performing bug? I wasn't athletic and I was not the smartest kid in school... all I had was music (and scrabble!) so I tried to stay on stage as much I could.