Those Who Teach ... Do!

It is not often in a person's life that they get to watch their mentors work in the field in which they teach. In my life, I have had many people that supported me and guided me through my life. Two people high on the list are Ed Bara, my voice instructor, and Charles Richter, my directing teacher. Both of these men spent four years teaching me the skills I needed to enter the field of musical theater performance and direction. Fortunately, neither one was upset when I entered teaching. In fact, I knew they were both (reluctantly) proud.

This weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing Muhlenberg College's production of Kiss Me Kate starring Ed Bara and directed by Charles Richter. Throughout college, I often had opportunities to see Charles' work. I even got to work at his side for many productions. Never did I leave a project without feeling like I had learned something important about theater, directing, performance, or life. Because Charles taught me how to speak my opinions about theater, I always have things to say about his productions. Some good, some bad. Whatever they are, he always listens (and argues). These arguments have always taught me even more than the exordinary about I learned in a classroom. It was this attention he gave to me that makes him such a special teacher and person in my eyes.

Mr. Ed Bara is someone that I can't just call a mentor or a teacher. He is my friend. Seeing him perform on stage in a musical was a collision of all my worlds. Ed was no longer the opera singer who enjoyed working on musical theater material with me. He is now apart of my musical theater world. I will no longer be able to listen to Cole Porter's score without hearing Ed's voice.

The strangest thing about the experience was the sense of reversal I was feeling. It wasn't, "Wow, that's my teacher!" It was almost as if I was the adult watching my child perform. That is not exactly it, but it's the closest I can come to explaining it. It was the overwhelming sense of pride I had watching him share a gift with the audience that I honestly never knew he had. Whenever I would watch him sing in the past, he was a singer. He stood with one foot in front of the other, diaphragm expanded, vowels formed correctly, and sang the songs, giving it just enough emotion that we knew what the song was about, but not distracting us from the gorgeous operatic voice. This time, I was watching the world of acting and singing truly being put into one package.

I have stayed strong in my contention that I do not miss performing. I do love teaching and look forward to directing high school shows for the rest of my life. When I graduated from Muhlenberg, Ed warned me that I would miss it someday. "One day, my friend, you and I will get together at a bar and catch up. You will say to me, 'I want to go back' and I will say, 'Told you so.'" I didn't believe him. Who would have guessed that it would be his performance three years later that would be the cause for my hesitation from moving forward, away from performing? Damn him! I wonder if he knew ...

"Those who can't do teach." Ha! Thank you, Ed. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to see a teacher do and do it at a level that went beyond professional. Though I have been gone for three years, you continue to be an inspiration to me. I hope that one day, my students will feel the same emotions that I felt on Saturday night!