Why I love theatre

Okay this all sounds very cheesy. But because I've chosen to go back to my first passion, I've been reflecting a lot lately on why I love theatre so much, even though I rarely enjoy actually performing myself. I like being the unseen magic, I like to feel like what I do helps the people on stage be even more magical. Anyways that's beside the point. I watch a lot of Wicked clips online these days, mainly because I love the show, and because Lera wants the role of Elphie one day, which I actually firmly and realistically believe she has a shot at getting. Anyways I was watching a clip from the finale of what was supposed to be Idina Menzel's final night in the role of Elphie. She hadn't done the role that night though, because of the fact that the night before there was a problem with the trap door during her melting scene and she broke a rib, so Shoshana Bean stepped into the role early. However on that night, at the very end, after Elphie has "melted" and comes back on stage to meet Fiyero so the two of them can run off together, Idina walked on stage in a red track suit rather than Sho as Elphie. It was one of those magical moments that can only happen in theatre. The audience went wild, the cast looked shocked. It made me cry. Which I know is sappy. But something as unpredictable and amazing as that can only happen on a stage. Film is a beautiful art form, but it is too contrived, and scheduled for me. Theatre moves differently every night. It is a human art form. A stunt goes wrong and the trap door doesn't work at exactly the right time because some deckhand sneezes, and the lead is suddenly whisked away to the emergency room. A lead on stage forgets a line, and all of a sudden a song comes pages ahead of where it's actually written into the script, and it's the responsibility of the musical director to make sure that happens. An actor steps into a mark for a trap door too soon, lines ahead of himself, it's still someone's responsibility to make sure that happens so that the magic isn't ruined. Theatre is about being on your toes, thinking ahead, and even though you might do the same show 8 times a week for 4 years, no single show is exactly the same. That's why I love theatre, because it is unpredictable, alive, and most of all human.