“Lights up!” my acting teacher said. I was sitting in a tiny, 46-seat theater in SE Portland, which was known as the Shoebox Theatre until the pandemic forced its former tenants to give it up. Brooke Totman and Ted Rooney, Portland-based actors, jumped at the chance to launch the 21ten Theatre where their non-profit produces intimate theater events and offers performance art classes.
I’ve never imagined myself on stage because I’ve struggled with soft spoken syndrome since childhood. Okay, it’s not a syndrome, but after being teased by other kids and made fun of by some teachers, it certainly felt like one. The theater director at my high school even told me to stick to dancing parts and never ever try-out for speaking roles.
In my twenties, I was hired as a high school teacher. I’ll never forget that first day when I stood before a room full of juniors. Terrified, but determined, I spoke, and to my amazement, they heard me! But for years, I could only raise my voice when I taught teenagers.
Studying storytelling changed everything for me. I gained confidence and volume. I’m still soft spoken most of the time, but now when I speak in front of groups, I know I’ll be heard.
Acting didn’t occur to me until a friend ran up to me after a storytelling event and said that I would be a great actor. After I recovered from my shock, I thought—why not? Now, on Saturdays from 10am to 1pm, I settle into my seat at 21ten Theatre with 15 other people, most of whom are around the ages of my adult sons. I don’t know what my sons would say about the scene I’m in—I play the owner of a burlesque club—but I’m having a blast!