That was Then, This is Now..

When I was five years old, I came home from school one day in a huff. Why? Well apart from the fact that I was a slightly dramatic, precocious child anyway, I was annoyed because my Kindy play had been cast and I didn't get a part. Or so I thought. The play was an accumulation of nursery rhymes and children's songs that told the story of "The Jolly Postman" and I didn't get to be in any of them. I got the role of "Narrator". Pfft. I was five. I didn't know what a Narrator was, but I knew it wasn't Little Miss Muffet or Little Bo Peep. I told my parents how I felt about this horrific injustice that I had felt had been dealt to me and they gave me an interesting piece of information. The Narrator was actually the biggest part. I'd have the most lines, the most stage time. Well. That was a whole different story. Little five year old Alexandra was happy to hear it. That was my first experience on stage and I loved it. I wore a black velvet dress and a white blouse with a big black bow in my hair and I stood on that stage and narrated the hell out of that show, remembering every word by wrote. I suppose for lack of a less cliche line, it was then I realised that performing was for me.

Fifteen years later and I see how my life has changed. I've done a lot of things, I've been a lot of places and a lot is very different to when I was five years old. But there is still that one remaining factor. I still have that passion. The passion to stand on a stage or in front of a camera and step into the character of someone so different from myself and for a time, become them. The passion to tell a story, to become a part of the story. The passion to make people feel. To make them laugh, cry, and wonder. The passion to entertain. The passion to perform.

For the last two years, I have been away from performing. I've studied and worked and volunteered and after being away from it for two years, it is more clear than ever that this is what I want to do. This is who I want to be. By stepping back, I confirmed in my mind that this wasn't just some phase that I would grow out of but it's a passion and a calling, one that I'm not going to be able to get away from. And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.